Page 109 of The Locker Room

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away.

“I can take it,” he muttered, but he couldn"t meet Chris"s eyes.

“I can"t. I can"t watch you take it one more time,” Chris said, his

voice raw. Xander looked at him, tortured, but just like Chris, seeing a

way out of the taunts and the jibes and the coldness that was making the

thing they"d loved—the thing they"d lied for—completely unbearable.

“I"ll quit,” he muttered. “I"ll quit tonight.” He stood up as he said

it, reaching for his phone, his heart racing and all the adrenaline he

hadn"t spent in the game rushing through his system, thrilled to the

central chord of his heart at the thought of being free.

“Don"t you dare,” Chris hissed, grabbing his arm and dragging

him down to his stool. “We"re going to make playoffs this year. Playoffs.

Do you know how long it"s been since this team has seen playoffs? No,

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man. Fuck it. Go get me some fucking condoms from the bathroom. Get

two.” Chris shuddered then, and Xander had no doubts that sleeping

with the girl like he"d planned would be about as much fun as eating

cold dead fish, with skin.

That didn"t mean he didn"t want to throw up too, just like Chris.

He came back with the condoms, and Chris was leaning into the

girl, smiling emptily in her eyes and giving her the same bright tone of

voice and vapid responses that Xander remembered from high school,

when girls like Gabrielle had tried to get his attention, and he"d said no.

He patted Chris on the shoulder in classic “attaboy”, and stuffed the

little foil packages discreetly in Chris"s pocket, shivering when Chris

brushed his fingers on purpose, stopping to squeeze them before letting

go.You with me on this, buddy?Xander had bumped his knee on

purpose as he"d resumed his stool.Always with you.

“Everyone knows who you are,” the girl was saying. “You"re

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