Page 240 of The Locker Room

knew it, Aames had snatched his phone, and the other three (cheered on

by an injured Oswald from inside the limo), literally picked Xander up

and threw him in the car.

For a minute, he thought about being legitimately angry, but then

he looked at them, without the buffer of Chris by his side, without the

intensity of the game in his glare, and realized that they were… grateful.

The team was doing well, and he was a part of that, and they were

grateful for him. They wanted to see him have a good time.

“I guess one beer couldn"t hurt,” he muttered good-naturedly.

“Now let me call my driver—tell us where we"re going, and he can come

in and have some dinner.”

The team cheered, even the second string (because some of them

were in the limo too) and at the end of it, Xander had a nice time.

While he was thinking warm and fuzzy thoughts (not brought on by

the beer—he only had one), Burkins came up to him, working on his

third or sixth beer, and tried to have a “private” conversation in a loud

and boozy voice.

“You"re a good guy, Xan,” he said. “You "n Edwards, you"re good

guys. You keeping tabs on Edwards?”

“Yeah,” Xander said with a faint smile. He had, in fact, been

texting with Chris, so he could explain why he wasn"t going to be there

that night. “He"s recovering.”

Burkins nodded gravely, a bit of a sheen on his mahogany skin in

the dim light of the bar. “See, tha"s the thing. You and Edwards. You"re

not just buddies, you feel me?”

208 Amy Lane

Once, the words would have panicked Xander, but not now. He

was unafraid. He literally had nothing to lose that he wouldn"t give up

voluntarily, and he didn"t care who knew it.

“I"m well aware,” he said drily, and Aames sidled up, his light-