CHAPTER 14

Kendra had covered at least one game or match in every professional sports league and some tournaments like the US Open in both tennis and golf throughout her career, but her favorite sports to cover were volleyball, obviously, and women’s basketball. She loved going to a WNBA game. She’d never been a big basketball fan growing up, putting most of her interest into volleyball back then, but since she’d been asked to be the sideline reporter at her first college basketball game years ago, she’d enjoyed it.

After a season covering the Women’s NCAA Tournament, she’d been asked to cover the WNBA, too, and she’d been doing a little bit of both ever since. She couldn’t say that she’d formed long-lasting friendships with many of the players, but they’d all be nice to her and had welcomed her into their locker rooms, practice gyms, and sometimes, into their celebrations after big wins. Kendra had watched many women go from college ball to the draft to then playing professionally. Some of them got married and later had kids, so she got to see them return to the court after their maternity leave and still kick ass on the court as if there had ever been any doubt that they would.

“Aisha, how are you feeling about the win tonight?” she asked, holding her microphone to the team’s shooting guard.

“It was a team win, you know? Della went out early with that ankle, so everyone just stepped up and stepped in, and we showed that we know how to get it done no matter who’s on the court.”

“Any concerns about Della’s ankle?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask Coach that. She’s strong, though. And I know she wants to get back on the court, so she’ll be working hard to do that.”

“And this was a big win tonight. You scored eighteen and had a double-double. That’s your third of the season.” Kendra moved the microphone back over to her interviewee’s mouth.

“Yeah, you know, it’s just about who’s next up, who’s got the open shot, who can make the best pass. We got it done tonight. That’s what matters.”

No matter who she interviewed, every woman she spoke to talked about the team’s performance, shying away from taking credit for their own, even when their own was a big part of why they’d won. Kendra loved that part of interviewing female athletes. It could be so different from talking to some of their male counterparts.

After she wrapped up her interviews and the follow-up work she had to do, Kendra returned to her hotel room and sat on the bed, exhausted and starving. Unfortunately for her, it was after eleven, so the hotel’s restaurant was closed. She supposed most other restaurants would be closed by now, too, but it was a Saturday night; she could probably find one in the city that was still open. She just didn’t have the energy to go back out and decided that she’d wait for breakfast the following morning.

Kendra dug into her bag and found a granola bar, which she’d packed for a plane as a snack that she hadn’t ended up eating. She bit into it as she checked in for her flight the next day, which wouldn’t take her home but to another location of the game she’d be covering tomorrow night. Her phone dinged with a notification just as she’d hit the check-in button.

Aspen Ashley: Nice game.

Kendra smiled and decided that her initial concerns over giving Aspen her number were now assuaged solely because of this text message and the winking emoji Aspen had added to it.

Kendra Bowie: You act like I was the one playing.

The three typing bubbles appeared immediately, so Kendra chewed and leaned back on the bed, waiting for another message.

Aspen Ashley: That wasn’t you hitting all those threes in the fourth quarter?

Kendra laughed, and a chocolate chip flew out of her mouth, landing on the white, cheap hotel comforter. She quickly picked it up so it wouldn’t stain and set it on the bedside table to deal with later.

Kendra Bowie: No, that wasn’t me. I was the one standing next to her when it was all over.

Aspen Ashley: My bad. I must have gotten confused.

Kendra laughed.

Aspen Ashley: What are you up to?

Kendra Bowie: Eating a granola bar that I’m glad I saved because I’m starving, and the hotel restaurant is closed. And I still need to shower before I go to sleep. I have a flight tomorrow morning to New York.

Aspen Ashley: You’re in Seattle. They don’t have food delivery there?

Kendra Bowie: They do, but I’m lazy.

Aspen Ashley: Where are you staying?

Kendra glared at the phone, wondering why she was being asked that question. She sent Aspen the name of the hotel anyway, though, and waited to see what the woman would message her next. It took longer than Kendra thought it would for the text to appear.

Aspen Ashley: I remember you say you liked pepperoni pizza. One should be there in about thirty minutes. I got you breadsticks and a drink, too. I’m sure you’re tired and don’t want to go grab it from the desk, so I also just called your hotel’s front desk and asked them to take it to your room. I might have lied and told them you’re injured and can’t walk because you hurt your knee, so maybe act injured or something when you check out tomorrow. The app delivery guys wouldn’t be allowed to go up to your room anyway, but if you don’t want the food I ordered, I can call the hotel back and tell them that they can keep it.

Kendra read the message a couple of times to make sure she’d gotten that all right. Aspen had ordered her dinner. No, first, Aspen had remembered that Kendra liked pepperoni pizza, which Kendra had mentioned the other night at coffee, when they’d talked about maybe ordering something in for dinner and sharing it. That plan hadn’t come to fruition that night because Aspen’s mom had called and needed to talk to her about something, but Aspen had remembered. She’d remembered, and she’d ordered Kendra dinner.

Kendra Bowie: Aspen, you didn’t have to do that. I would’ve been fine.

Aspen Ashley: I don’t like the idea of you only having a granola bar for dinner. I’m tracking it on my phone, and they’re currently making your pizza. I doubt it’ll be the best pizza of your life, but it’ll at least be better than a granola bar.

Kendra Bowie: What do you have against granola bars?

Aspen Ashley: Nothing. But they’re not dinner.

Kendra Bowie: They are sometimes. I get back to my rooms late, and not every hotel even has a restaurant, so I got in the habit of packing a few. This time, I forgot to refill before I left, so I only had one.

Aspen Ashley: We should work on that, then. You can do better than granola bars for snacks. I’ve got some great travel snack recommendations I can tell you all about the next time I see you.

Kendra loved Aspen’s use of the word we. In fact, their coffee together the other night had been an eye-opener for her. Wyatt had been right about Aspen’s ex-partner. And Kendra had, of course, remembered Alex’s name, but for some reason, asking Aspen about her in that moment, she hadn’t wanted to use it. It was petty, and Kendra knew it, but she couldn’t help herself. She wished Aspen could’ve stayed for dinner because she could’ve gotten to know the woman even more, but it was probably best that she left because Kendra liked watching her sip coffee. The simplest of things, taking a drink out of a mug, had her swooning, which was ridiculous, but it was true all the same.

Aspen Ashley: Your pizza and breadsticks are in the oven.

Kendra laughed and typed.

Kendra Bowie: Are you going to keep me updated at every step?

Aspen Ashley: Yes. How else will you know when your food is about to arrive magically at your hotel room door? Remember, pretend your knee is messed up when you open it. Don’t make me look like a liar, Kendra.

Kendra laughed again.

Kendra Bowie: But you are a liar, Aspen.

Aspen Ashley: It was a food-related lie, so it was a good lie.

Kendra Bowie: You’ll have to explain that one to me.

Aspen took a minute to respond, so Kendra stood and finally decided to change out of her work clothes and into her sleep clothes. She’d save her shower for the morning. When her phone dinged, she ran and jumped onto the bed, flopping down hard on her stomach with a woof sound before she grabbed it.

Aspen Ashley: You know how someone cooks you something, and it’s not your thing? Or, it’s actually objectively bad, but when they ask you how it is or if you like it, you lie and tell them it’s good so that you don’t hurt their feelings? Good lie.

Kendra Bowie: But what if they think you love it, so they make it for you again and again? Do you just have to keep eating it because you never tell them the truth?

Aspen Ashley: The only person who’s cooked me that many meals is my mother, and I didn’t have a choice. If she cooked it, I ate it.

Kendra liked this small opening that Aspen had given her.

Kendra Bowie: None of your girlfriends were big cooks?

Aspen Ashley: Not really, no. But I also like cooking enough, so I cooked for them whenever I was home. Not that I have a ton of ex-girlfriends.

Kendra Bowie: Did you lie to them if they did cook you something you didn’t like?

Aspen Ashley: Once or twice, maybe. And they were so proud of what they’d cooked. How do I really know it’s not great? Maybe everyone else would’ve loved it, and I’m the problem? Food is super subjective. Your pizza, breadsticks, and your lemon tea are on their way, by the way. Twenty minutes out.

“Lemon tea?” Kendra said to herself.

Aspen must have noticed that whenever Kendra was working, she generally had a lemon-flavored iced tea with her. Aspen had noticed, and she’d ordered it for her. Kendra melted a little more.

Kendra Bowie: If I cooked you dinner sometime, would you lie to me if you didn’t like it? And thank you.

She decided that since they were clearly on their way with this conversation, she might as well put it out there and hit send.

Aspen Ashley: If you cooked me dinner, what would it be?

Kendra smiled and shook her head.

Kendra Bowie: What do you like? Let’s start there.

Aspen Ashley: I’m not picky, remember.

Kendra sucked air between her teeth because Aspen hadn’t just given her a place to start.

Kendra Bowie: You’re a healthy eater, though, right?

Aspen Ashley: Generally, yes. I tend to stick to lean meats and green leaves, unfortunately, but I throw in fruit to help make the greens taste better.

Kendra Bowie: Spinach salad with homemade fruity dressing and some kind of chicken. I can cook it on the new grill I still need to buy and make a sauce. Something with balsamic, maybe? Is that healthy enough?

Aspen Ashley: That sounds amazing. You’re making me hungry, and I’ve actually eaten dinner.

Kendra laughed and typed.

Kendra Bowie: Maybe when I get that grill, you can come over, and I’ll make it for us.

While waiting for Aspen to reply, she opened her Amazon app, found that wish list for the house she’d started making months ago, located the gas grill she’d thought was way too expensive but wanted anyway, and added it to her cart. Kendra had a credit card it could go on, and she had the idea that it would be worth it. She picked the shipping date and clicked the order button. Then, she went back to her messages to see that Aspen had replied.

Aspen Ashley: I’d like that. Also, apparently, Mike, the delivery guy that I tipped really well, ran some red lights or something because he’s there. It says he’s nearby anyway, so prepare for the knock on the door.

Kendra Bowie: Thank you, Aspen. This was really very nice. Unnecessary, but nice.

Aspen Ashley: No problem. I’ll let you go so you can eat and get some sleep. I should get some rest, too. I have an early practice tomorrow.

Kendra hadn’t expected that and was disappointed because she’d hoped that they could text while she ate, but she wouldn’t keep Aspen up when she had to practice the following morning.

Kendra Bowie: Okay. I’ll see you when I get home? And thank you, again, for my dinner.

Aspen Ashley: Yeah, I’ll be here. And you’re welcome. Good night, Kendra. Sweet dreams.

Kendra rolled over onto her back and sighed like a movie character just as there was a knock on her door.

◆◆◆

The following day, Kendra flew across the country, only to have to do it again the next day to get back to LA. In New York, she covered the game and watched the home team get a solid win by thirteen. She did her job, and she did it well, but she had other things on her mind. Namely, the fact that she missed Aspen. She’d wanted to text her again to tell her that the pizza had been good, but it just would’ve been an excuse to start another conversation, and Aspen needed to focus on practice and finding a new coach, so Kendra had resisted.

When she’d gotten back to her hotel room after another long day, she wondered if Aspen would text her about seeing the game and her on TV, or if she’d ask Kendra if she’d eaten real food or something because it seemed like something Aspen would do. By eleven, though, when she didn’t have any texts, Kendra decided to give up on that idea and just text Aspen herself. Aspen was three hours behind her, so it wasn’t too late there, and she wouldn’t be asleep yet, so Kendra decided to give it a try and see if the woman would respond.

Kendra Bowie: Hey. Any chance you’ve seen my sprinklers going off in the morning? I think I turned the automatic system on correctly, but I forgot to check that they’re going off, so I’m worried I’ve killed my grass already.

It was the lamest excuse for a text message she could think to send, and she had no idea where the idea for it had come from, but she hit send before she could stop herself.

Aspen Ashley: I haven’t seen the sprinklers go off, and I don’t think your grass is actually wet, but I did see two men dropping off a huge package at your front door about ten minutes ago. I could tell what it was from the box, so, in case you didn’t know yet, your new grill is here.

Kendra’s eyes went wide. She’d specifically picked the date so it wouldn’t arrive until she got home. She texted Aspen back to tell her that it wasn’t supposed to get there today.

Aspen Ashley: Well, you’ve obviously got that next-day shipping working for you because it’s sitting on the sidewalk leading up to your porch.

“Shit,” she said to herself and went to type, but then saw that Aspen was typing, so she stopped.

Aspen Ashley: Want me to drag it into my garage until you get home so that no one steals it? I have a dolly, so it’s not a problem.

Kendra Bowie: I would love that. And I’ll cook you a meal a day on that thing for a week if you do that for me.

Aspen Ashley: It’s not a problem. Now, tell me, and be honest here… Did you eat more than a granola bar for dinner?