Page 77 of The Locker Room

offices, taken guitar lessons on her own, and worked at Jamba Juice, the

book store, and Starbucks. Penny, he thought, looking at Chris"s dark

eyes in a sweet, mischievous female face, was meant for great

adventures in the wide world. Xander was fully aware that his heart

would not survive his adventures unless the other half of it were beating

in time.

“See, here"s the story,” Penny said now, after an almost nervous

pause. “Once upon a time there was a little girl named Penny, who had a

horrible crush on her brother"s best friend.”

“Aww, Penny, really?” Chris groaned, trying to keep things light.

“She thought it was true love, Christian, you bastard, so shut the

hell up and listen, okay?”

Christian rolled his eyes at Xander, but Xander couldn"t laugh

back. Unlike Chris, who didn"t seem to know where this was going,

Xander had a congealed, belated fear in his stomach, a terrible adrenaline

rush, as though he"d been caught doing something bad, and the

consequences were worse than he had ever imagined.

“We"re listening,” he said quietly, and he resisted the temptation to

take Chris"s hand. There was another quiet, one they could hear the

ocean in, and Xander realized he loved that sound. God, wouldn"t it be

wonderful to live near the ocean for the rest of his life?

Penny reached out and patted his knee. Xander was leaning

forward, his outsized body trying not to spangle over the couch like a

Mylar decoration, and that hand on his knee was close enough to his face

to stop and pat his cheek.

The Locker Room

“I know you"re listening, Xander. You always listened to me. You

were the one quiet voice in our house, and I loved you for it. I really did

love you, you know. I mean, I know it was junior high, but you were