Page 41 of The Locker Room
that she forgets it"s there all over again.”)
But Xander"s body was getting “itchy.” In their junior year, he
could watch Chris undress and think of him platonically, or even not at
all. By the end of their senior year, Xander was putting off showering
with Chris when they were in a crowd.
“Dude,” he muttered unhappily, “it"s like you"re a walking boner
pill. I see you naked and my whole body goes on virgin alert!”
“Which one of us is that pinging for?” Chris asked coyly, kissing
the corner of his jaw as they sat at the employee picnic table at work.
“Because, you know, mine is going full time too!”
“Double the virgin, double the ping,” Xander said, smirking, and
then Chris kissed him until the smirk went away and only the “pinging”
survived. Then Xander"s actual timer went off, and the two of them
sighed. Time to go upstairs and wait for Jed or Andi. The boys had gone
back and forth over the wisdom of buying their own car, but at the
moment, they figured they"d use public transportation in NC and deal
with what they had in Cali. Xander appreciated Mr. and Mrs. Edwards
looking out for them, he really did, but he"d already established one
more requirement in his list of “grown-up shit” that he wanted for
himself and Christian. He had it firmly locked down in his head:
College degree: check
Well-paying job: check
House that no one could take away from him ever: check
Car: check
Safety, and no chance that anyone would scream at him or beat him
or terrify him with their neglect: check
36
Amy Lane
Christian, his and in his arms forever: Absolutely. The first and last
thing on his checklist. The absolute only thing he could never live
