Page 269 of The Locker Room

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The narration faded out, the credits rolled, and Penny actually

walked over to the television to turn it off.

She turned back and looked at Xander and Chris, clenching hands

together on the couch, and said, “I, for one, am really proud of both of

you. That looked brutal.”

“Can I go now?” Xander asked, and although the room laughed,

one look at Chris"s sympathetic expression told him that at least one

person knew he"d been mostly serious. An answer to that question was

put off anyway, because at that point, the phone—which had finally been

plugged in again—rang.

Leo jumped to get it.

“Guys,” he said, looking at the number on the caller ID, “there"s

only one person this could be. That"s the team owner. Are you ready for

the verdict?”

They looked at each other, and Xander"s mouth curved faintly. He

had Chris. He could face anything.

“Yeah,” he said. “Why not?”

With a nervous smile, Leo picked up the phone.

234 Amy Lane

THAT night, as Xander slept on the couch, soothed by Chris"s breathing,

he didn"t have a nightmare. He didn"t dream about the next day, or what

it would bring, all that was waiting for him on the morrow, and none of it

even crossed his mind.

Instead, he dreamt of an ordinary morning. He would wake up and

go running, and Chris—completely healed—would come with him, the

dogs frolicking at their feet. He dreamt that they would come home and

shower—and maybe they"d even shower together, and wouldn"t that be

fun? And then they"d make love—silly, goofy, wildly passionate love on

the bed that they woke up in.

He dreamt that they"d come downstairs for breakfast, and Lucia

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