Page 134 of The Locker Room

---

“But I wanted it for you too!” And oh, how he had. He"d wanted

the two of them together on the court, like two parts of the same engine,

because that"s when he knew he"d never be alone again.

The Locker Room 115

“You want to do something for me?” Chris asked, his voice thick

and his face turned away. “You really want to do something for me?”

“Anything!” Xander begged. Anything. He would always do

anything for Chris.

“Then you kiss me goodbye at the airport, and keep our home nice

for when I can come back, and then… Xander, you go play your heart

out, you hear me? You go be a superstar, and you stop feeding your

guards the shots that should be yours and you throw this sorry assed

team in a sack and toss it on your back and take them to the goal—you

get that? You go show the entire world what kind of player they"re going

to be kicking to the curb… and then I"ll let you quit.”

Xander shook his head, not wanting to hear it. “But it"s not any fun

without you!” he said, aware of how childish he sounded. Chris knew it

too. His lips quirked up bitterly, and he shook his head.

“Our adulthood just called on the phone, baby, and fun is not in the

plans. Now help me pack, or I"m not going to make my signing, and then

we"ll be in a whole different world of hurt, okay?”

Players had been denied a contract for being late for a signing.

They had friends on the Denver team, Cliff from Chapel Hill, for one,

but they were both conscientious players, and the habit of trying to

please, of toeing the line and being good boys, was one that wouldn"t go

away.

They made it through the next two hours, and when the car arrived

for the airport, Xander put on a sweatshirt over his jeans and grabbed the

luggage. Chris looked up from where he was writing last-minute

instructions to Lucia about how to juggle the house, and smiled faintly.

---