Page 172 of The Locker Room

didn"t get him hard or make his breath come quick or do anything at all

for him. But he thought about what he"d want for Penny, if she were ever

in a situation like this, and he put one of his crutches under his other arm,

and held out a hand for the poor kitten who had, all things considered,

put up a pretty good fight.

She ran into him and started to cry, and although he heard about

one word in seven, the four he did make out came up as, “No place to

staaaaayyyyyyyy!!!” and he sighed. Well, why not? Penny would be

there, she could set Mandy up in a guest bedroom. It"s not like they

didn"t have, like, ten of them.

The driver had gotten out and was holding the door open

solicitously, and Xander said, “Um, Mandy? Hey, you want to stay at our

place? We"ve got room.”

“Who"s we?” Mandy asked, her voice muffled from his chest, and

Xander said, “Me and Chris,” without thinking. She didn"t say anything,

though, as they got into the car. Tim—who was their driver most nights,

because he"d filled out the confidentiality agreement and was a sweet

guy with a wife and a kid and loved the game—got a blanket from the

148 Amy Lane

back and wrapped her up in it as she continued to lean into Xander"s

warmth. Xander sighed. God. A girl. All those horrible nights of sleeping

with strangers like an unfortunate job requirement, and now he had a girl

staying at his place because he bashed her boyfriend on the head with a

club. The world was beyond funny—it was now just fucking odd.

Penny was up when he got to the house, and the dogs perked up

from her side (they werenotsupposed to be on the couch) to come sniff

the new person. Mandy took a look at the big dog coming to sniff her

crotch (and one behind to sniff the same place from a different angle)

and gave a little shriek, then backed up and scrambled onto the counter

that separated the kitchen from the front room. She tottered there, in her