Page 128 of The Locker Room

she"d blow up the picture, put it on the wall, and only tell the people who

mattered what really went on that night—but he couldn"t be positive.

There was a silence on the other end of the line, and Leo asked

tentatively, “Please tell me she was eighteen?”

110 Amy Lane

“Barely, Leo—that"s why nothing happened.” Xander flopped

backward on the comforter, bouncing his hand lightly on top of it. It was

Kings" purple, with gold trim, because it had cracked Chris up to have it

made that way, and it had made Xander laugh when he"d seen it. The

sheets and the pillows were purple and gold to match. It was raucous and

gaudy and sooo not them. That had been the point, right? Two queens

playing for the Kings? Get it?

He was having a conversation right now that wouldn"t let him

laugh about that.

“God… she was a baby, and she lived in what looked like my first

apartment, and… Christ. Christ, I"m done with lying—not to her, and not

to the media. Look, whatever happens, they can draw the conclusions

they want, but I"m not getting up and giving a press conference and

answering to any of this bullshit. Not now. Not ever again.”

Leo sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I hear you, big guy. "Kay. Look, I"ve got

your owner on call waiting, right? Whatever the fallout is? It"s about to

rain down. Go put Chris together—he"s going to need you.”

Xander stood up and went to the bathroom, wondering if he was

going to have to pull him out in the same way Chris had pulled him out

three years ago, but he needn"t have worried. Chris had shut off the

water and was drying his hair, a towel slung around his trim waist and a

little bit of life back in his eyes.

“You told Leo?”

Xander stood behind him and put his hands on his shoulders, still

soft and damp from the shower. They had some moisturizer (Chris called