Page 50 of The Locker Room

of the year. There were posters of individual Kings players: Vlade Divac,

Peja Stojokowicz, C-Webb, Jason Williams, Scott Pollard; and one

poster of the whole team.

“Peja"s my favorite,” Chris said now into the silence. “You"ll look

just like him when you get all grown and everything.” He was sitting on

the bed, and Xander sat next to him, taking in the way his chest gleamed

a little in the moonlight. Of course Chris wouldn"t wear a shirt. Pretty

Chris, with the hairless chest and the model cut to his chest and arms and

stomach.

Xander grimaced at the choice of Peja. “I"ll need like, a personal

body wax every weekend, you realize that.”

Chris laughed and leaned back on his elbows. He flexed his

stomach, and Xander realized he was preening. “So which one am I?”

The Locker Room

“Jason Williams,” Xander replied promptly, because obviously,

he"d thought about it.

“"Cause I"m short. Ha ha.”

“No!” That wasn"t it at all. “Because he"s loyal. He"s got his wife,

right? And they"re like, inseparable. It"s legendary. You"re like that.

You"re like, thick and thin, right?”

Chris"s hand was suddenly on his, and it was a whole different

thing than what they"d been stealing in odd moments for the past two

years. It was suddenly serious in a way they hadn"t been before, ever.

“You can trust me, then,” he said quietly.

Xander shrugged. “Of course.”

Chris shook his head, then lay down on his queen-sized bed,

tugging on Xander"s hand to do the same. Their feet hung off the edge,

when they weren"t sleeping diagonally like Chris usually did, but they

ignored it. He rolled over to his side and leaned in, kissing Xander"s