Page 65 of The Locker Room

---

but that he couldn"t help but compare to winning a game—or a string of

them—effortlessly and cleanly, when the crowd was on his side.

56

Amy Lane

After Chris gave his final gasp and simply lay back in the seat,

replete and twitching a little, Xander leaned over him and kissed him one

final time before grabbing a towel from the crowded backseat and drying

him off.

“Oh, Jesus,” Chris panted. “That was glorious. I don"t know how

it"s going to help us figure out where we are, but it was awesome.”

“I"ll tell you how it"s going to help,” Xander said confidently. “It"s

going to get you to get in the passenger side so you can cop a nap, and

I"m going to drive the rest of the way, because I know which turnoff we

missed, but I can"t think of the words to describe it, and I"ll just get all

confused when you"re talking to me, okay?”

Chris had been skeptical at first, but after a few moments of

fumbling as they got out of the car and stretched in the August heat

before changing seats, hehadbeen ready for his nap. When he was

asleep, unconsciously trusting Xander to do the right thing, Xander

found the turnoff and had them to town (and someplace to eat; they were

starving) within half an hour.

As they were waiting in the drive-through, Chris had blinked at

him sleepily, trying not to be hurt. “Wow, Xan, way to show a guy he"s

not needed.”

Xander had shaken his head adamantly. “No, man. You don"t get it.

I couldn"t have gotten it done unless you neededme.”

Chris had smiled then, quietly, and eaten his cheeseburger, but that

night they"d been too tired to do more than collapse on their beds and go

to sleep.

Two nights later, after taking some detours and going up the

---