Page 41 of The Locker Room

that she forgets it"s there all over again.”)

But Xander"s body was getting “itchy.” In their junior year, he

could watch Chris undress and think of him platonically, or even not at

all. By the end of their senior year, Xander was putting off showering

with Chris when they were in a crowd.

“Dude,” he muttered unhappily, “it"s like you"re a walking boner

pill. I see you naked and my whole body goes on virgin alert!”

“Which one of us is that pinging for?” Chris asked coyly, kissing

the corner of his jaw as they sat at the employee picnic table at work.

“Because, you know, mine is going full time too!”

“Double the virgin, double the ping,” Xander said, smirking, and

then Chris kissed him until the smirk went away and only the “pinging”

survived. Then Xander"s actual timer went off, and the two of them

sighed. Time to go upstairs and wait for Jed or Andi. The boys had gone

back and forth over the wisdom of buying their own car, but at the

moment, they figured they"d use public transportation in NC and deal

with what they had in Cali. Xander appreciated Mr. and Mrs. Edwards

looking out for them, he really did, but he"d already established one

more requirement in his list of “grown-up shit” that he wanted for

himself and Christian. He had it firmly locked down in his head:

College degree: check

Well-paying job: check

House that no one could take away from him ever: check

Car: check

Safety, and no chance that anyone would scream at him or beat him

or terrify him with their neglect: check

Amy Lane

Christian, his and in his arms forever: Absolutely. The first and last

thing on his checklist. The absolute only thing he could never live