Page 204 of The Locker Room
Chris pulled back and (awkwardly, from his angle) socked Xander
in the arm.
“Stop trying to throw your gift away, you dumb bastard. If either of
us is going to be the wife, it"s going to be me!”
In spite of himself, Xander grinned. “Does that mean I can come
home from work and find you wearing an apron and nothing else?”
Chris chuckled weakly against him. “You perv. You should have
told me that was your thingbeforeyou filled the house with women.”
Their laughter was short-lived, though. “I don"t want you to have to
quit,” Xander said softly. “It"s not fair.”
“I don"t want you to have to scream in the middle of the night,”
Chris said quietly back. “It"s not fair, either, and right now, it seems so
much more important than me getting one more season somewhere else.
But you—Xander, I"ve been watching you play. You"re a machine—
you"re terrifying. Don"t shut that down. Please? I love this game, and
one of the things I love about it is how beautiful you are when you play.
If I quit, there"s another rookie ready to learn about Scotch and airline
176 Amy Lane
food. If you quit, there"s a hole in the world. Please? Just promise me
you won"t quit. It would break my heart.”
Xander swallowed hard. “I"ll do anything not to break your heart,”
he said, and Chris nodded against him. There was a damp spot between
his cheek and Xander"s shoulder, stinging and uncomfortable with salt,
but they were both tired of acknowledging the pain.
THE west coast team won the All-Star Game that year. Chris won the
most free throws in a row, Xander took the three-point shot contest, and
Chris"s rookie managed a dunk that took Xander"s breath away.
“He"s going to be amazing,” he muttered to Chris, delighted to see
someone that graceful, that gifted, do his thing with that much passion.
Chris"s lips twisted. “If he lives that long. You see how he comes
