Page 16 of The Locker Room

club. But that"s not how Chris was looking at him now. Not even a little.

“You"re my friend,” Chris whispered back, and his other hand

came up so he could rub Xander"s lower lip with his thumb. “That makes

you beautiful.”

They stood there, transfixed by each other, until they heard the

voices coming up the walk. The kids that had sent Xander running for

this private spot in the first place had finally wandered down, desultorily,

and were passing their spot, chatting loudly.

Xander and Christian froze, staring at each other in fear of

discovery and wonder at what it was they were doing that would be

discovered. It was Chris who made the first move; maybe he knew that

Xander wouldn"t put up a fight when they were so close to other people.

Maybe it was the way Xander was staring into his eyes with wonder and

hope and terror all mixed in. Xander had never asked him, not even in all

the years that followed, what made him do it, for fear that his answer

would be that it had been a whim, or a game, or for the hell of it. It

would have been just too cruel if the most magical moment of Xander"s

life had happened for the hell of it.

Slowly, Chris raised himself on his toes and pulled Xander"s head

down for a kiss.

It was nothing, at first. Just a bare brush of lips to lips. Xander had

never kissed a girl, and to his knowledge, neither had Chris, so at first

just the taste of the other"s breath as they rubbed lips was enough. And

then Chris pressed a little harder, and Xander"s lips parted, and Chris"s

tongue slipped in, gently, licking at the inside of Xander"s mouth until

Xander had no choice. He opened his mouth fully, and welcomed Chris

in.

And Chris, for all he was six inches shorter than Xander, groaned,

pushing at Xander until his back was pushed up against the gold stucco

of the house. (Xander would be wiping pale yellow stucco dust off the