Page 120 of The Locker Room

She saw the direction of his gaze and looked sheepish. “I hope you

don"t mind. I just moved out of my parents" house, and I"m still earning

the money while I study, you know?”

Xander nodded stupidly. “What"s your major?” he asked, buying

time. There were a couple of standing lights in the living room, and he

could get a better look at her face than he had in the darkened bar. She

looked improbably young.

“Poetry,” she chirped, turning back to him, and he smiled, thinking

she"d be a wonderful English major—hell, probably a wonderful writer,

and then he looked around the apartment again. When he looked back at

her, she was texting again, and he had to laugh.

“Telling your friends?”

She grimaced and closed her phone, turning it off. “They keep

giving me shit, you know? Because I haven"t put out yet…. I told my

best friend that I had Xander Karcek in my living room, and she about

The Locker Room 103

shit her pants. She won"t believe it in the morning!” Suddenly, Audrey

looked abashed. “She asked for a picture, but I couldn"t send one. I

mean, you know. I know you"re just here for sex, but that"s sort of

between us, isn"t it? It just seemed wrong to just send your picture all

over creation, right?”

Xander looked at her helplessly. Oh Christ. “Audrey, how old are

you?”

And now her faintly hectic blush suffused her entire body.

“Nineteen. I"m legal, right? Well”—and now she looked like a caught

kid—“maybe not for the beer. That was nice of you by the way. Thank

you.”

“You"re welcome,” Xander said, the words echoing in his head as

he said them. He was reaching inside his pocket for his phone for a cab,

when he realized Audrey was looking at him expectantly.