CHAPTER 19

Aspen stared through the net. She saw a tired team. Truthfully, she was tired, too. She knew DJ was as well. But they needed one more point to win this tournament and the prize money to be able to go to Italy feeling like they were on top of the US. Then, they’d just need to show the rest of the world that they were number one for a reason. A loss wouldn’t hurt anything much this time, but it might ding their confidence, and Aspen knew her confidence was a big part of her game, so she didn’t want that to happen.

The crowd was on their feet for the midday game. The sun, still high in the sky and beating down on them, had caused problems, blinding eyes a bit, but the wind had been the bigger issue, and that was why they were deep in the third set of a match that never should’ve gone to three sets. They’d started on the left side, and that strong wind had been behind them, making even the gentlest serve they tried sail over the back line. They’d lost the first set by two points. In the second set, they should’ve gotten a breather, but the wind had switched to some kind of sideways attack that made their shots and serves all curve a little, and they’d won but just barely. In this set, they were back on their original side, and the wind was behind them once more. Had Aspen believed in conspiracy theories, she would’ve suggested that someone who was a fan of their opposition was in control of the weather.

It was set, match point, though. They were up fourteen to twelve. Her feet were usually used to the burning sand beneath them, but this sand was on a different level, so even though they’d sprayed it with supposedly cooling water, it was still too hot for bare feet. Aspen couldn’t wait to get off it and planned to dump a bucket of ice water over her body before she put her feet into another one.

“Here we go, Aspen,” DJ said.

Aspen checked the signals, and DJ was going to block the cut shot, which meant that Aspen would guard the line. She planned to guard it well because she did not want this match to go on for another point. Since she so rarely paid attention to the crowd, not needing it to rev her up like other players sometimes did, it was odd to her in that moment that she could hear them, so she took a second to look around at the stands before the whistle blew. People were cheering them on and probably also wanted to be out of this heat.

She rolled the ball around in her hands, finding the right spot. When the whistle blew, she tossed the ball, not waiting at all, and jumped. She hit a flat serve, and not all that hard to keep it inbounds. Her goal was to just get it over the net and give the other team something to deal with. She ran to her spot on the court to cover DJ and watched as the team passed the serve from close to the net.

“Two!” she yelled, expecting them to tap it over since they didn’t have enough space to properly set and spike.

DJ backed off a bit, but not too much, and Aspen shifted to give her more space. When the ball came over, Aspen was there to pass it up, but she fell in the sand. Up quickly, she was ready for the hit, but DJ went over in two and hit it high to give her more time to get set. The other team was prepared, so their pass and set were both perfect this time. Aspen saw DJ’s hand signal and moved until she was ready. The hitter across from them swung hard, likely preparing to win this point on that swing, but DJ moved her feet well, hands in the air in the right spot, and blocked it. It landed inbounds, with the other team watching as it hit the sand. They’d won.

When they were approached for a post-match interview, Aspen pushed DJ to be between her and Kendra because her partner often didn’t take enough credit for their wins or her own play, choosing to give Aspen the spotlight, but Aspen didn’t want it all for herself. DJ had helped them stay in the first set, and she was the reason they’d won the second and third one, so this was her interview.

“Aspen, DJ, congrats on the win.”

“Thanks,” DJ said, still breathing hard. “They gave us a tough match. Amazing on the service line. The ball kept spinning even when it hit my arms.” She laughed, sounding incredibly happy.

Aspen met Kendra’s eyes for a moment and caught Kendra smiling at her. She smiled back.

“The wind was really giving you two a hard time today.”

“It was,” DJ confirmed. “It didn’t seem to like us much. We were trying different spots and serves, even on the different sides, but it was like it followed us and tried to make our lives difficult. So, I’m proud of us for hanging in there and still getting the win after that first-set loss.”

“You two are heading to Italy next, where you’ll face the top teams in the world. Who are you most looking forward to playing, Aspen?” Kendra moved the microphone over to her.

“I think we’re ready for anyone, so it doesn’t matter who we play. The rest of the world really caught up to the US, and nothing is guaranteed, even if you’ve won every match in your entire career, so we know we’re going to go up against some tough teams. I just hope the wind will give us a break in the next match or two.” Aspen chuckled.

“I know the number one team from Brazil has been saying some things about how you’re no longer number one. How does that make you feel?”

“It still says number one in the rankings next to our names, so I don’t know what they’re talking about,” DJ said. “We’re ready to show up in Italy.”

“Thanks, ladies. Go celebrate your win.” Kendra smiled at both of them.

Aspen and DJ hugged and ran off to their bench, where they waited for the presentation of the giant check, which had always seemed a little ridiculous since it wasn’t actual money. Then, they hurried off to the player tent, and Aspen sat in a chair, grateful to down some electrolytes, wipe off her sweat a little better, and put on some damn shoes.

“Was the water they sent out of that hose hot water?” DJ asked.

“So, it’s not just me?” Aspen laughed.

“Nice match, you two,” Chase, who was about to play in the men’s final, said on his way out of the tent.

“Thanks,” DJ replied with zero enthusiasm.

Aspen waited until he was gone and asked, “So, that’s still going nowhere?”

“I really don’t know what I was thinking. Not that I would mind… you know.” DJ shrugged a shoulder, and Aspen laughed. “But I’m not that desperate.”

“Kendra made a joke the other day about you being blinded by the blond.”

“Yeah, I know. I was there.” DJ shook her head at herself. “How’s that going, by the way?”

“How’s what going?” Aspen asked and tossed her empty bottle into the recycling bin.

“You and Kendra. I take it, you two haven’t reached the needing-to-sleep-next-to-each-other-every-night stage yet since you’re still in our room every night, and she has one all to herself here. Either that, or you have a rule where you’re not going to do that when we’re in a tournament or something.”

“DJ, Kendra and I aren’t together.”

“Maybe not yet; but you’re dating.”

“No, we’re not.”

“Aspen, you were clearly trying to get rid of me last night.”

“Yeah. I wanted to talk to her about something. And it’s not something I wanted you there for, but not because we’re dating.”

“Okay. But you like her. What are you, then?”

“I don’t know, honestly. We just haven’t talked about it.” Aspen leaned back in her chair.

“Is she covering Italy?”

“No,” Aspen replied.

“So, you won’t see her for over a week, then?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Are you going to miss her?”

Aspen looked out at the water beyond the sand and said, “Yeah.”

“Aspen, ask the woman out already.”

“DJ, it’s complicated. Chill.”

“Why? Because she interviews us sometimes?”

“And we live next door to each other.”

“Why is that complicated? That seems like it would make things simpler.”

“Really? What if I do ask her out, and she says no, for whatever reason she might have? I’m sure there are many. I’d still have to take my garbage cans out once a week, and we’d bump into each other. Or, I’d be in my backyard, and she’d be in hers, and it would all be awkward. What happens when I see a woman leaving her house in the morning? Or, if they’re on the patio, like, making out or something while they sit on some chaise lounge that she doesn’t have but I’m picturing right now?”

“Do you want to make out with her on the chaise lounge she doesn’t have?”

“Obviously,” Aspen said. “So, it would just be weird. Then, we’d have to see each other at these things, and we’d be forced to make awkward small talk where I pretend that I care about her new relationship while I’m still single and wishing she and I were together instead. It’s all complicated.”

“I think it’s pretty simple, actually,” DJ replied.

“How so?”

“Well, she obviously likes you, too. So, if you asked her out, she’d probably say yes, and you’d avoid that whole thing where she’d have someone else eventually because that someone would be you.”

“What if it doesn’t work out? What if she says yes, and we try, but it’s not there at some point? We live right next to each other. And it’s not like we’re renting these houses; we own them. We’re not moving out after a year when a lease is up. We’d be stuck there. And she won’t be single after that forever.”

“Aspen, you’re worried about things that haven’t even happened and might not at all.”

“Maybe, but–”

“I’ve never actually seen you like this before.”

“Like what?”

“Like it matters,” DJ replied.

“It does matter. She’s special.”

“I can tell. You’re different around her.”

“What do you mean?” Aspen asked, leaning forward in her folding chair.

“You’re impulsive; you know this. And, in your case, it’s not usually a bad thing. It’s not like you’re impulsively stealing cars out there or spending all your money on a bad shopping habit or something. You just usually don’t take time to make a decision, and sometimes, you don’t think things through. Alex is coming to mind.”

“Alex? What about her?”

“You knew she was in love with you, and you still took someone else back to your hotel room, Aspen. You didn’t have to do that. If you really wanted to sleep with her, you could’ve gone to her room on a different floor or just waited until Alex wasn’t in the room across the hall. You didn’t think about the fact that the next morning, Alex would wake up, and there would be a strong chance that she’d see you and her together. And I’m not saying this because I think you did it intentionally to hurt Alex or anything. It happened because you didn’t really think about it at all.”

“I know.” She looked down at the sand. “I shouldn’t have done it. And I still feel guilt over it. That was the thing that ruined our partnership for good.”

“I’m not complaining about that part because it meant that you needed a new partner, but it’s an example of you not thinking things through. With Kendra, you are thinking things through, so it’s different. I don’t think it’s because she lives next door, either. I think it’s because you don’t want to blow it because you actually want it to work out.”

“There’s nothing to work out right now,” Aspen argued. “We’re friends who flirt, at most.”

“Friends who flirt, with the possibility of more. She’s single, Aspen. So are you. There’s nothing really stopping you from putting yourself out there like you do with pretty much everything else.”

“There’s the fear,” she pointed out. “I’m not used to feeling fear like this.” She looked up at her best friend and colleague. “She’s beautiful, smart, and funny, and I really like her, DJ.”

“But you’re scared?”

Aspen nodded and said, “What if she says no if I ask her out?”

“Why do you think she would? From what I’ve seen, she’s totally into you, Aspen. And she invited you out last night. I don’t think she expected me to tag along. She was also your date to Mark’s thing, even if you didn’t want to call it a date. She’s always smiling at you, and she joined us at practice. You talk about her all the time, and from that, I can also tell that you two spend time around each other when I’m not there. So, what are you so afraid of?”

“She has some stuff that I think she’s working through right now, and it worries me, okay? I’m not going to give you any details because they’re hers, but we were talking last night, and I know it’s a big deal for her. She’s not big on sharing, I think.”

“But she shared with you?”

“Some, yeah.”

“And you don’t think that means something? That someone who never or rarely shares something with people talked to you about it?”

“I brought it up,” Aspen explained.

“Just because you bring something up, doesn’t mean someone else has to talk to you about it,” DJ replied. “How many times did I tell you to shut up about Chase before I told you that I liked him?”

“This is more serious than your obvious crush on Chase.” Aspen sighed.

“I was blinded by the blond,” DJ said almost wistfully.

Aspen laughed then, remembering how cute Kendra had looked when she’d made that joke; all flushed from the alcohol and maybe the heat, laughing with that little adorable snort.

“Yeah, you really like her.”

“Huh?”

“Aspen, I know where your mind just went. Talk to her.”

“I will. Just not now. We’re about to leave for Italy anyway. I’ll wait.”

“Why?”

“I need to focus on my game.”

“Our lives aren’t all about volleyball, Aspen. I mean, in ten years, we’ll be lucky if we are still playing. So, in ten years, do you really want to be alone, watching Kendra make out with another woman in that fake chaise lounge across the fence because you waited too long to ask her out?”