CHAPTER 34

The flight time from LA to Berlin was a little over twelve hours, but Kendra hadn’t chosen a non-stop flight because she preferred to stretch her legs a bit. Instead, she’d gone through JFK and had ridiculously bought Aspen an ‘I Heart NY’ shirt from one of the overpriced shops inside the airport, just because.

Kendra hadn’t had a girlfriend for whom she wanted to buy silly gifts in a long time. Her most recent ex-girlfriend had been a financial planner who preferred not to spend money at all and had suggested they put their money into high-yield accounts instead of buying birthday or holiday gifts for each other. Kendra hadn’t been entirely sure what a high-yield account had meant and had made the mistake of mentioning that to her ex, which meant that her ex had decided to drone on and on about finances and how they shouldn’t spend money on meals out but should make their own meals because it would save them money. Kendra wasn’t a big spender or anything, but she felt like spending a little bit of the money she worked hard for was fine, and after buying that shirt for Aspen and snacks for the flight for herself, she made her way to the gate and boarded the second leg of her trip.

Having arrived at the airport in Berlin, she made her way out and onto a hotel shuttle because they offered it, and it was cheaper than anything else since it was free. Aspen would be playing a match tomorrow morning and was probably still training with DJ, so it was possible Kendra would beat her to the room they’d share for this trip. Aspen and DJ had won their first three matches and had made it into the quarterfinals, which meant they only needed to win three more matches, and they’d automatically qualify for the Olympics.

When Kendra got to the hotel, she had to show the guy at the desk her passport after telling him that Aspen had left a key there for her. He checked and handed it over, along with a gift bag that he said they gave to all guests of the volleyball tournament that week. Kendra made her way up the elevator and, once inside, texted Aspen that she was there.

Aspen Ashley: Are you invisible? I’m here, and I don’t see you anywhere.

The elevator dinged when Kendra got to the floor, and she pulled her bag out and texted back.

Kendra Bowie: Where are you? Downstairs in the lobby? Did you just get back?

She found the room and went to pull her key card out of the little white sleeve, but the room door opened before she could get it out of there, and she was finally face-to-face with the girlfriend whom she hadn’t seen in a week and a half of their one-month long relationship.

“Babe,” Aspen said and pulled her in for a quick kiss.

“Hey. I thought you’d still be training.”

“Nope. We ended a little early so that I could get back here. I thought you’d beat me, but I got here about five minutes ago.” Aspen pulled Kendra’s suitcase into the room for her, and once she was inside, with the door closed and all her bags down, Aspen pulled her into her arms for a long hug. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Kendra replied, pulling Aspen back to kiss her again, a little longer this time.

“How was your flight?”

“Fine. Boring. How was training?”

“Fine. Boring,” Aspen jested.

Then, there was a knock at the door.

“What the hell?” Kendra said. “Did I drop something downstairs?”

“Room service,” someone said from the other side of the door.

“Dinner,” Aspen told her with a wink. “One second!” she yelled and hurried to the door to pull it open before a cart was pushed inside.

“You ordered dinner?”

“Here you go, Ma’am,” the hotel employee said in English with a German accent as he handed Aspen a padfolio for her to sign.

Just as soon as he’d entered, he had left, and Aspen turned back to Kendra.

“Happy one-month anniversary,” she said and lifted the cloches, revealing plates of food.

One plate had what, Kendra guessed, was a variety of German sausages with some diced seasoned potatoes, and the other had a roasted half-chicken and some schnitzel. There was a bottle of wine in the middle, with two glasses, along with a bottle of sparkling water and glasses for that as well. Bread with little pads of butter in the basket completed the things she could see, but Aspen pulled another, smaller cloche and revealed what looked like a slice of cheesecake with a few mixed berries on top.

“It’s a German cheesecake, so it’s different, but I thought we could try it.”

“You remembered?” Kendra asked.

“Our anniversary? Of course, I did. We went out on our first date one month ago. We should celebrate.”

“You’ve been so busy… And I didn’t know if you’d want to celebrate something like a one-month anniversary.”

“I do. And we are. It’s just dinner,” Aspen told her. “I didn’t exactly have time to get you a gift, so I hope this is okay.”

“My girlfriend qualifying for the Olympic Games would be quite the anniversary gift.”

“Well, I’ll see if I can arrange that.” Aspen chuckled.

“Oh, I got you something. Not a fancy dinner, but I thought it would just… be something.” Kendra pulled the bag from the airport out of her shoulder bag and handed it to Aspen. “I didn’t have time to wrap it. I’ve– Well, I’ve been busy with work, trying to get set up to leave, and my sleep schedule has been off because you’re here. It’s silly, but just open it.”

Aspen pulled the shirt out of the bag and laughed a little.

“It’s perfect. I love it. You know, I’ve never actually had one of these.”

“It’s stupid, and I could’ve gotten it for five bucks on the street, probably, but I paid way too much for it at the airport.”

“I bet this one will last longer,” Aspen suggested. “And I love it. I like silly things, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Am I silly for buying it?”

“No, but I still like you.” Aspen leaned in and kissed her. “I hope you’re hungry. And I’m sure you’re tired, so after we eat, I can run you a bath, and you can relax until it’s time to get some sleep. Does that sound good?”

“Sounds amazing.” Kendra kissed her this time.

It had been a very busy month for both of them. Aspen and DJ had run through a few more coaches and had one they were really interested in, but they didn’t want to do anything until after Berlin because they’d been playing well enough without one and didn’t want to upset the applecart until after the event. They’d also won the two USPBV tournaments prior to leaving for Germany and seemed, to Kendra, to be in great form, which had extended to the first three matches they’d played in Berlin.

Kendra, for her part, had been thinking more and more about what she wanted to do with her life. She couldn’t just quit her job because she’d just bought a house, so everything she’d had saved up was going into it, but she also knew she wasn’t as happy doing what she was doing as she’d once been. When Aspen had left for Berlin, Kendra had wanted to leave with her, but she’d needed to cover another indoor match with Wyatt and hadn’t even been able to see Aspen off to the airport, which she’d hated. While she still liked talking to athletes, she was increasingly growing tired of asking the same questions over and over again and getting the same responses.

“How do you feel after the game?” she’d ask.

“We feel pretty good. Lots to improve on, though,” they’d reply in one way or another.

“How do you think so-and-so played tonight?” she’d ask.

“I think they played well, coming off the bench for us late and making an impact,” they’d reply in some way.

Kendra felt like, at this point in her life, she maybe only asked ten different questions on a regular rotation and got about ten of the same answers, and that was getting old for her. Since she didn’t come from money and couldn’t just follow her girlfriend around the world without a job, she’d have to think about what she wanted to do next, but that would be for later Kendra to worry about because tonight was her one-month anniversary with the girlfriend whom she was mad about and had missed like crazy for the past ten days.

They’d spent every night together up until Kendra had needed to go. She’d managed to switch a few of the events she’d have to cover with someone else in order to take all the local games and matches for the various summer sports, which had given them those nights and mornings together. When she could, she’d meet DJ and Aspen for lunch, or just Aspen, if they were done training together for the day. Then, later at night, they would have dinner together at one of their houses, snuggle up on a couch, catch up, and have something on the TV in the background, like one of the matches Aspen and DJ had played, while they talked strategy for the next one. They’d usually make love after that and wake up the next morning to do it all over again, and Kendra hadn’t ever been happier in her life. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Yes, Kendra still sometimes flinched when Aspen walked into the room and she didn’t have her shirt on because she’d forget that she wasn’t doing that anymore, but Aspen had been so patient and understanding, never making Kendra feel bad about it and never making it about her. Aspen would then usually just walk over and kiss Kendra on the bare shoulder before she’d hold her for a moment or walk away.

Kendra still worried that the newness of being able to show that part of her body to someone else might wear off somehow, so she’d thought about possibly making an appointment to talk to someone after all, because it might help her deal with any residual issues she had around her condition and subsequent surgery, but she was feeling good. In fact, she’d been right to tell Aspen that her scar now represented the life she’d made for herself in spite of something that she couldn’t control; something that could have killed her had she not gotten that scar that would continue to fade more and more each year until it was barely visible at all.

Tonight, though, present her was happy, and when Aspen drew her a bath after their delicious dinner where they’d shared entrées, Kendra turned off the water a little early so they could both fit in the tub. Of course, it was a very small tub because they were in a European hotel room, and her girlfriend was a very tall pro beach volleyball player, so it had been less romantic than Kendra had planned, but they’d sat there with their knees up, facing each other, talking softly in the room that echoed a bit and sharing kisses here and there until they were clean. Aspen got out first and wrapped a towel around Kendra’s shoulders.

“Hey, want to watch some video of us training today? We set up the phone on a tripod for a few minutes to run through a couple of things we wanted to look at later.”

“You’re not exhausted?” Kendra asked as she dried off.

“I’m tired, but not exhausted. Honestly, I’m a little wired because my gorgeous girlfriend just showed up and I missed her. I was thinking we could stay naked, and you could sit between my legs while we watch for a few minutes before we go to sleep.”

“Stay naked, huh?” Kendra lifted an eyebrow.

“I meant that in a PG way. I haven’t held you like that since before I left. Can we do that? Just hold each other? I’m kind of a sap now, in case you haven’t figured it out.”

Kendra smiled and said, “But you’re my sap, so it’s okay.”

“I like being your sap.” Aspen laughed a little. “DJ was making fun of me today when I told her how much I was missing you and how I never knew what missing someone really meant until now because it’s crazy to me how quickly I got used to falling asleep next to you.”

“Should we remind her about Chase tomorrow after the match?” Kendra suggested.

Aspen laughed again and hung up the towel she’d just used to dry herself off.

“God, you’re…” Kendra reached for her and rested her hands against Aspen’s chest above her breasts. “I really missed you, too.”

“Yeah?” Aspen asked, sounding hopeful.

“I guess I got used to falling asleep next to you, too. Besides, I got used to the sounds of the ball beating that box thing in the backyard, and you haven’t been there to practice.”

“I’ll practice twice as long when we get home to make up for it,” Aspen told her and kissed Kendra’s forehead.

“Aspen?”

“Yeah?” The woman wrapped her arms around Kendra’s waist and pulled her in.

“Do we have to just sleep tonight? I don’t want to use up any of the energy you need for your match tomorrow, but I was thinking that if your body could use a little stress relief or tension release, I might be able to provide that for you.” Kendra ran her hands over Aspen’s breasts, landing on the nipples, which hardened as she toyed with them.

“You’re not too tired?”

“Not anymore,” she replied. “Let me take care of you tonight.”

“What about you?”

“After you win this thing, we can celebrate,” she said and moved her lips to Aspen’s neck. “Get on the bed. I’m going down on you until you come in my mouth.”

“Oh, wow,” Aspen said. “Yes, please.”

Kendra smiled against Aspen’s still-clammy skin and smacked her on her ass. Aspen hurried off into the room, making Kendra laugh as she followed behind her.

An hour later, she was snuggled up in Aspen’s arms, and Aspen was holding the phone so they could both see the small screen. Kendra watched DJ swing her arm and follow through on one hit, but not on the other two, which would’ve made a difference, so she called it out, and Aspen kissed her on the top of her head. After they watched and talked about it, they did their nightly routine together, which had been a new thing in Kendra’s life but already felt so familiar.

Without dressing, they slid back into bed beneath the blanket and sheet this time, and Aspen wrapped her arms around Kendra from behind. Her hand landed between Kendra’s breasts over her scar, and Kendra smiled a little as she closed her eyes.

“I am so glad you’re here,” Aspen said softly, kissing the top of her shoulder.

“Me too, babe,” she replied. “Good night.”

“Night.” Aspen kissed her again in the same spot.