Page 264 of The Locker Room

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Penny"s throaty laughter faded into the background as they faced

Barbara"s next question.

“So, may I ask how long you two have been in love?”

Chris"s eyes lit up, in spite of his pallor and his obvious pain. He

looked sideways at Xander, who blushed and pretended to look out the

window to his other side.

“Since forever,” he said softly. “Since we first met. We were

fourteen, and Xander was outside past dark, shooting baskets, and I was

waiting for my mom to get dinner, and… and it was the best game I"ve

ever played.”

The tall, uncomfortable man playing Xander managed to pull his

attention away from the window for a moment and look at Chris through

a softened expression. “Me too,” he said gruffly.

It was Barbara"s turn to blush, and she moved on to what it had

been like hiding their relationship when they"d been away at Chapel

Hill.

“So, you two waited until after high school to consummate your

relationship?”

“Another word I hate,” Xander mumbled. Chris shushed him, and

they both carefully avoided looking at Chris"s parents for this next part.

“Not quite, but, over that summer, yeah,” Chris said, looking

embarrassed for the first time.

“But I understand Xander was living with you at the time. If you

were in love—”

“Xan wouldn"t do anything—at least while we were underaged—

while he was living with my parents. He"s got that sort of honor thing,

you know? And I didn"t want him living in foster care, so I managed to

wait until we were eighteen. It felt… it felt right, by then.”

230 Amy Lane

Across the room, Andi groaned. “That trip we took, right after

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