Page 47 of The Locker Room

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and waggled his eyebrows. Xander laughed, and the girl next to him let

out a disgusted puff of air.

“Could the two of youbemore gay?” She"d been hitting on Chris

ever since she"d started, and Xander had a feeling that she could get ugly

if she found out the truth.

“I can think of one way,” he said mildly, and it was the complete

truth. Not onlycouldhe think of one way to be more gay, but hehad

been thinking of it, pretty much nonstop, for the past six hours.

Gabby rolled her eyes. “Seriously! The least you could do is help

me out here! I"ve been hitting on that guy for two months, and I"m

getting nowhere. Could you at least tell me what he likes?”

Me! He likes me! He loves me, and he wants nothing to do with

you!

“He likes to laugh,” Xander said instead. “He likes it when

someone can share a joke with him, or watches a funny movie.” Xander

could do that—but only with Chris. With Chris, he could watch a funny

movie and laugh until he spit soda up his nose. By himself, or with

Chris"s parents, he let out a courtesy chuckle, because while inside it

might seem hilarious, on the outside, it wasn"t worth laughing without

Chris.

Gabby stopped examining her fingernails through her clear

protective gloves. She looked at Xander and smiled brightly. “Thanks,

Xander! I guess you"re not completely retarded after all!” And with that,

she wandered up front and struck up a conversation with Chris about

Austin Powers II,that lasted for the rest of her shift.

Eventually, though, she left, and half an hour later, Xander and

Chris were ready to go. They climbed into Chris"s “new” car—a five-

year-old Toyota with not quite enough leg room for Xander—and Chris

grabbed Xander"s hand after he"d started the car toward home.

The Locker Room

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