CHAPTER 27

“Aspen, come on,” DJ said. “I’m wiped. Can’t we call it a day? We’ve hardly slept since we got here.”

“We play Brazil’s number one tomorrow morning, in Brazil,” she replied of the team who were a lock to make it to the Olympics for their country. “They’re our first match in a single-elimination tournament. We have to show up, DJ.”

“I’m well aware of that, Aspen. But with the match yesterday, the travel right after, the lack of sleep on the plane, and us going straight to a workout on top of the time difference, I’m exhausted. I need to sleep.”

Aspen looked at her partner, who was sitting in the sand after missing yet another pass in their first practice in Rio. She was tired, too, but they’d drawn the toughest team in the tournament first, so she needed to get DJ recovered from playing like crap in their final. They’d won, but barely, and Aspen had had to pick up a lot of slack. If it had just been a bad game for DJ, that wouldn’t have been a problem. Everyone had a bad match or two every now and then. But DJ had played poorly because she’d stayed up late the night before, had had too much to drink, and had rolled into their hotel room well after two in the morning. She’d arrived loudly, too, waking Aspen up and trying to tell her, not at all softly, about the fun she’d had while out with Mark.

“He’s my new crush,” she’d declared proudly as Aspen got out of bed to find her the biggest bottle of water she could.

“I know I played like shit, and I’m sorry, but punishing me by making me practice all day after no sleep and a bad match won’t help.”

“I’m not trying to punish you, DJ. I’m trying to get us to adjust to the time zone and make sure we’re still good. You never stay out late like that. What happened?” Aspen asked and sat down in the sand across from her, tossing her a bottle of water, which she’d added a packet of electrolytes to.

“I thought you’d be in there with Kendra.”

“I told you that we’re not doing that.”

“You can tell me whatever, but you two are totally together without actually being together, so there was a good chance that I’d walk in, and you’d at least be snuggling or maybe more. I didn’t want to ruin your chances.”

“It was the night before a final. Did you honestly think I was going to sleep with Kendra, knowing that you could walk in at any moment? And for our first time together, which I’d already told you I didn’t want to have until after she and I went on a real date. Just be real, DJ: you wanted to stay out because you have a new thing for Mark, and he was there.”

“That wasn’t the only reason.” DJ took a drink from the bottle Aspen had passed her. “But, yeah, that was part of it.”

“DJ, come on. We almost lost that final. I also had to carry you, which means I’m more exhausted than I should be, and we play an important match tomorrow. We can’t auto-qualify here, but this one counts. If we win this, we’d be nearly impossible to beat by the other US teams. One more tourney win, and even if we don’t take Berlin, that’s still it; we’re definitely in.”

“I know how it works, Aspen.” DJ capped the water bottle. “I’m sorry. I know I fucked up. I really don’t need a lecture from you.”

“Well, we don’t have a coach here, so it’s got to be me.”

“Aspen, I’m sorry, okay? I’ve never really talked to Mark before. I used to be into Chase, and he was off flirting with someone, as usual, while Mark was there, so he and I started talking. I swear, I didn’t even drink that much. I had one that I bought myself, and he offered to buy me another one, so I didn’t exactly want to turn it down. They just made the drinks extra strong, I think. He’s really nice, and smart, and funny, and he talked to me all night. He didn’t get up, even when Chase told him that he met a girl Mark might like and they were all going to dance. He probably could have gotten laid last night, like, I’m sure, Chase did, but he didn’t. We kept talking, and I lost track of time, ending up tipsy and late. So, I’m sorry.”

“I get that you like the guy. But can it wait until after the season or, at least, after we’ve qualified for the Games? Hell, after the Games, even?”

“You want me to put my love life on hold for another year? And then, what happens? It’s not like either of us is planning on retiring. I assume you’ll want to remain partners and go for another medal, providing we do well this time. So, should I just not date for the next, like, five years or something? Aspen, come on. That’s not me, and you know it. I haven’t exactly dated a lot since you and I became partners, but I also never agreed to stop dating for ten years of my life. I want to meet someone and fall in love, Aspen. And I have no idea if it’s Mark, but I’d like to see if it could be. He asked me out. We’re going to go on a date when you and I get back. I love this sport as much as you do, and I want to win, but I can’t just postpone my entire life to make that happen.” DJ stood up. “ Now, I’m going back to the hotel, and I think I’ll get a room of my own, if they have one available. I could use a little space, I think. I’m also taking a long nap, but I’ll make sure to get on a normal sleep schedule tonight so I can be ready for tomorrow morning, okay?”

“DJ, you don’t have to do that. I’m sorry. I–”

“I get that you want to wait with Kendra and that you’re basically perfect in all things because you have pretty much postponed your life for this, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us, mere mortals, are any less dedicated to our sport, Aspen.”

“I know that, DJ. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I didn’t know that about you.”

“I’m going back to the room. I’ll text you if they have another one for me so that you know why I’m not there when you get back later.”

“Yeah, okay,” Aspen replied, admitting defeat.

She watched DJ head toward the beach sidewalk with her bag and sighed loud enough that people could probably hear it over the ocean. It was midday in Rio, and she and DJ were supposed to be practicing for the whole day, but if DJ needed space, she’d give her that. After all, she wanted her partner to be ready to work with her tomorrow. For her to respect DJ’s wishes, though, it meant that Aspen couldn’t go back to their hotel room right now.

She looked around at the courts that had been set up on the beautiful beach and watched the other teams do their practices while people milled about, setting up the final elements for the event that would officially start tomorrow. Sitting there without DJ, on the court they had reserved for their own training, Aspen knew she’d look ridiculous. She was also hungry and thought about grabbing something to eat at one of the stands or restaurants along the sand, but instead, she picked up her phone and checked the time. With the time difference, it was morning in Los Angeles, so she decided to see if Kendra was at work yet and dialed.

“Hey,” Kendra greeted.

“Hey,” she said.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you supposed to be training right now?”

“I was. We were, I mean. But DJ just took off.”

“What? Why?”

“She was tired, and I made her practice anyway.” Aspen found her towel and laid it on the sand to act as a pillow before she moved to lie down.

“She should be used to that, right?”

“You’d think that. She’s mad that I was calling her on her shit.”

“The crappy play yesterday?”

“Yes,” Aspen said, grateful that Kendra understood. “She decided to stay out late and have some drinks, waking me up when she got back to the hotel to take care of her. I only got a few hours of sleep, too. Then, we get here, and instead of wanting to try to adjust and get back into the swing of things after we barely won yesterday, she’s complaining that she’s too tired.”

“Okay… But if she’s that tired, maybe she should rest so she can play better tomorrow?”

“Maybe, yeah. But when I suggested that she chill things with Mark, she got pissed and ran off. Now, she’s checking out of our room and trying to find one for herself because she says she needs space. It’s like we’re married, and I didn’t even know it.”

“Well, I hope not,” Kendra replied.

That made Aspen smile.

“You know what I mean,” she said.

“You’re athletes who depend on one another, so while it’s not exactly marriage, it kind of is at the same time. And right now, you two are working without a coach, so you don’t have a neutral third party there to help.”

“That’s what I said. Well, not exactly how you said it. I might have suggested that I have to tell her how it is because there’s no one else here to do it.”

“Let her sleep it off, Aspen. I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’s just tired, and it sounds like she might be starting something with Mark.”

“He asked her out, and they’re going on a date when we get back. I think I really pissed her off when I suggested that she not date until the end of the season or, at least, until we’ve qualified.”

“You told her that?”

“I asked her that,” Aspen corrected.

“Is that what you’re doing right now?” Kendra asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

Aspen swallowed and said, “No, but it’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“My game hasn’t suffered because I stayed out until after two drinking and flirting with some guy.”

“You’re not dating anyone, though,” Kendra pointed out.

Aspen bit her bottom lip and said, “No, but I’m not holding off on dating because I’m in season. I can handle dating someone and playing at the same time without it hurting my game. DJ might not be able to. She’s dated here and there in the past, but it was, like, one date that went nowhere. It was also during the week and not during the tournament. This is the first time I’ve seen her stay out late like this and play like shit the next day.”

“Maybe it’s an outlier, then,” Kendra suggested. “A one-time thing; and she won’t have any problems after it.”

“She’s into Mark now. Like, really into him. She was all smiles when she got back to the room at, like, two in the morning and woke me up.”

“You must have just fallen asleep then, because I didn’t leave until one.”

Aspen thought back to Kendra’s head resting on her shoulder while they watched a movie after they’d eaten dinner, and she smiled at the memory.

“I had just gotten to sleep, and it was hard to get back to sleep because she was rolling around in her bed and driving me crazy. I was tired, too, but I still played well.”

“Aspen, you two have an important match tomorrow. You might have to put this behind you and forget about it. Brazil’s not going to be easy in Rio, you know? You’re going to be facing a home crowd who loves their beach volleyball. You need DJ on your side.”

“I know,” she replied. “I’ll talk to her. But she wanted to take a nap, so I don’t want to interrupt that.”

“It’ll be fine. I’m sure it’s just mostly exhaustion that’s making you two go at it today. Take a nap yourself and have dinner together tonight; tell her that it’s okay for her to date or something and that you’re going to put this all behind you so you two can win tomorrow.”

“I wish you were here.”

“Yeah?” Kendra asked, sounding happy to Aspen.

“Yeah. And I just… I know we’re going to talk when I get back, but I’m not waiting to date someone until after the season or after we’ve qualified. I just want to make that part clear.”

“Okay. Well, that’s clear. Can I ask you something?”

“Yes.”

“Why are we waiting to talk, then?”

“Because if we do this, what we haven’t talked about and have been heading toward for months now, I want it to be right. I don’t want to risk anything.”

“I want it to be right, too.”

“I’ve also been busy and then injured and worried about qualifying, so I’ve been trying to balance everything with what’s been going on with us. I don’t want to wait. I just needed to take some time to think about how to do it all.”

“And have you? Had the time?”

“Aren’t you the one who just got out of a long-term relationship right before we started hanging out? Shouldn’t I be worried about being your rebound girl?” She laughed at her own bad joke.

“No, Aspen, you shouldn’t. But we should talk when you get back, because there are things that come with dating me that you should know before we get too far into this thing that I think has already been happening without us acknowledging it.”

“Things? What, the traveling? I travel, too. I’m used to it.”

“Not just that,” Kendra told her. “We can talk when you get back, though. I don’t want to cop out and do this over the phone. I’d rather you be home so we can talk in person.”

“Is something wrong?” she asked, sitting up in the sand, worried now.

“No, babe. Nothing’s wrong.”

Aspen smiled at the term of endearment and said, “I think I should ask you out on a real date before you call me that again, right?”

“I’ve called you that before. You were just asleep last time when I kissed your forehead.”

“You… You’ve kissed my forehead?”

“When you got back from Italy and fell asleep on the couch.”

“I missed that?” she asked.

Kendra chuckled and said, “I’ll do it again, but yeah, maybe ask me out before that.”

“What’s stopping you from asking me out?” Aspen teased back.

“Nothing. But I do have to go now. I’m running late for work.”

“Tease,” Aspen joked.

Kendra laughed and said, “Let DJ sleep. Then, talk to her.”

“I will,” she replied. “I miss you, Kendra.”

“I miss you, too,” Kendra said.