Page 34 of The Locker Room

and he looked down at his shoes as he turned back to be shoulder to

shoulder with Xander. “You wouldn"t have to live out of a garbage bag.”

Xander sighed. “Garbage bags aren"t a big deal,” he said, meaning

it.

Chris looked around surreptitiously, and thenhegrabbed Xander"s

hand. “They are when that"s your world,” he said, sounding wise.

“Maybe you and me, we"ll be slow, and in nooks and crannies and

places. Because—” They heard chatter coming up the walk from a side

street, and Chris dropped his hand. “Because I"d rather you be safe, and

have a home, Xander. If that means we gotta wait until college, then

that"s what it means, okay?”

It was a little sound, almost a whimper, but Chris looked at him

sideways, practically in triumph, and that was when Xander knew he"d

lost.

“Someday,” he said gruffly. “Someday, we"re gonna have a big

house, and it"ll be you and me. No one has to know what we do there,

but we"ll be a family, right? You and me?”

Chris met his eyes, and Xander fell into them. “That"s a deal, Xan.

You and me.”

30

Amy Lane

Free At Last

WHEN Xander remembered high school as an adult, he would invariably

remember two things: his time on the court, with the entire community

screaming for the both of them as they worked, bloodied, and pounded

their way into magic by sweat, and tiny corners of time with him and

Christian, alone and protected and insulated from the world.

Xander did move into Christian"s parents" house when he turned

sixteen, and he took up residence on their couch. He and Christian would

sit next to each other and watch television, or eat breakfast or brush their