Page 252 of The Locker Room

foot three, and Xander had always liked him, simply because he"d made

Xander feel both delicateandsmart.)

218 Amy Lane

“He means they"re the next best thing, Pollack! Jesus—I can"t

believe they graduated you from Texas.” Burkins was a little more

tactful when he wasn"t drunk. But not a lot.

Oswald was looking at Xander as though he held a dead bug.

“Eww. Really?”

Xander wasn"t sure how to answer that. “Um, yeah. But not ewww.

Is that going to be a problem?”

Oswald shrugged, still looking a little icked out. “You gonna grab

my ass on the court?”

It was Xander"s turn to grimace. “Ewww. Really?”

Aames snickered. “I think that"s a „no", Scott.”

Oswald still looked unconvinced. “Yeah, man, whatever. You still

planning to play ball?”

Xander nodded. “Yeah—if they"ll let me after tonight.”

Aames got it first, and the others were still struggling with it when

the light dawned. “Aww… Jesus, Xan. Really? Tonight?”

A sudden lump in his throat. God, Xander hoped they would

understand. “Yeah, Justin. Tonight. I… I can"t do this for everyone else

anymore. I gotta sort of do it for me, right?”

Aames nodded, and clapped him on the shoulder. “Yeah, man. No

worries. We got your back, right, guys?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Oswald snapped. “Just throw me the ball and

don"t grab my ass, man. It"s all I ever wanted from a teammate.”

Xander felt a little bit of humor seep in—because it looked like

they were going to be able to go out and play like they had all season,

and that"s allhe"dever asked.

“You know what, Scott? I can guarandamntee you that I willnever