Page 121 of The Locker Room

“So, um, Xander? What did you want to do now?”

“Cards,” Xander said decisively. “You wouldn"t happen to have a

deck of cards on you, would you, sweetheart?”

He could tell by her confusion that she didn"t, so he made her play

hangman instead.

At the end, after an hour, he took her phone and wrapped his arm

around her tiny shoulders, then held the phone out at arm"s length and

took the picture. They were both smiling like cousins at a family reunion,

and she looked embarrassed as she took the phone back.

“So, you probably think I"m really stupid, right?”

Xander shook his head emphatically. “I think you"re really

wonderful,” he told her truthfully. “But I don"t think you should just go

picking up on men in bars because your friends think you should put out.

Find someone wonderful, just like you, and make sure they"re your best

friend first, okay?”

Audrey nodded and then narrowed her eyes at him. “Says the man

who just came to the house of a random hookup!”

Xander grimaced. “Sweetheart, you find that young man, and you

enjoy your time with him. Sometimes, happy ever after is a lot more

complicated than it seems.”

Suddenly that tiny little hand was up, cupping his cheek.

104 Amy Lane

“You know why I took you home?” she asked, and he shook his

head no. “Because you seemed really, really sad.”

Xander swallowed hard, and stood up, letting her hand fall away.

“You are way too smart for nineteen,” he said softly, “and I"ve got to go.

Send that picture to your friends, okay? Tell them whatever you want,

but keep the hangman so you can prove the truth if you need to.”

She looked at the sheets of copy paper filled with scribbled letters

and bad stick figures. They"d both started using the longest words they