Page 236 of The Locker Room
skinny ass in the trunk. Now move!”
Xander did, laughing a little, and he was bright and cheery as he
kissed Chris and Penny"s folks and gave Mandy a one-armed hug before
sending them on their way.
“How"s he been?” he asked Mandy quietly. Chris would hide stuff
from his folks that he might let slip to Mandy.
204 Amy Lane
“Depressed as hell,” Mandy muttered. “I took him internet
shopping for fancy wheelchairs—the doctors say he"ll be in one for
almost a year, you know? We went for aluminum and Kings" purple, and
a little power pack and shit… and then the doc came and said that was all
well and good, but we needed to be able to put his feet up in the first
one—he gots to ride around like that for, like, months. That made him
sad again.”
She sighed, and leaned her head on Xander"s arm as Xander
watched him kiss his mom a quick goodbye.
“You know, the only thing that makes him happy is knowing you
get to play next week. He"s got, like, little parties planned and shit. I
never seen anything like it, you know?”
Xander smiled at her, shoving all of his butterflies down into his
feet, so maybe they could give him wings. “Well, sweetheart, I"d better
be ready to give our boy a show, right?”
“You do that,papi—I"ll be on the sidelines dancing for you, right?”
Xander dropped a kiss in her hair and said goodbye to Jed and
Andi, and then, finally, he had some time alone with the love of his life.
God, he was nervous as hell.
“You"re looking better,” he said, hunching his shoulders like he did
when he wished he was shorter.
Chris had color and animation in his battered face, but his eyes
were cloudy with painkillers, and his lips were tight with pain.
