Page 19 of Spin Serve

Aspen nodded in agreement.

“Does winning today in two sets by several points in that second set help your confidence going into the next match?” Kendra held the microphone up to Aspen again.

“Every team and every match is different. And while it does feel good to win and to have some extra room in the score in case you make a mistake or two, I think we’re the happiest about the fact that it gives us a little more rest and energy in the next one. Confidence is always there for us because we believe we can beat any team out here as long as we put the work in and show up on the court.”

“Well, thank you, ladies! And congrats again on today’s win!” Kendra turned toward the camera and added, “You can catch Aspen and DJ play tomorrow afternoon right here at three, Eastern.”

Aspen went to walk back over to their bags, but she stopped when she felt a hand on her forearm. She turned to see Kendra standing there, giving her a smile.

“Nice match.”

“Thanks,” Aspen replied. “Aren’t you supposed to be unbiased, though?” she teased.

“You helped me paint my guest room. I can’t tell you that you played well today?”

Aspen lifted an eyebrow at her and said, “You noticed us going on two more and the blocking thing.”

“Yeah. Why?”

“You really know your beach volleyball.”

“Anyone could see that you hit the ball twice instead of three times, but, yeah, I know volleyball in general. Didn’t you just tell me that you watched me commentate alongside Wyatt Wicked?”

“True. I guess I just hadn’t put it together. I knew you had to know your stuff about a lot of sports for work, but–”

“Aspen!”

Aspen turned and saw a few of the kid volunteers lined up by their chairs, waiting on her to come over and sign their shirts and some of the small souvenir balls they handed out to them.

“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah,” Kendra confirmed.

Aspen hurried over and took one of the balls from a kid who looked to be about nine or ten. She signed it, handed it back, and then turned around to see Kendra turning in the other direction, walking away from center court.

CHAPTER 8

When Kendra was playing volleyball in high school, she had a friend on the team with her. That best friend was two years younger, but she ended up on the varsity team as a sophomore in Kendra’s senior year. Now, at thirty-three, she was on the pro beach tour. Monica hadn’t ever made it big, so to speak. She and whatever partner she had usually found themselves out in the quarterfinals or semis, with a few occasional finals, and Monica only had two tournament wins to her name for her entire career. Still, she loved the sport so much that she worked a second job remotely and online from home in order to keep competing until she couldn’t anymore.

When Kendra had first found out about her condition and that she could no longer play, she’d cried on Monica’s shoulder. Then, with Kendra being a senior in college and Monica a sophomore at a different university in Southern California, they’d started on a new part of their relationship. Monica came out to Kendra, who had already told her that she was gay. Monica had also confessed to having feelings for Kendra, who had the same feelings for her, and they’d dated for over a year before realizing they’d be better as friends. It hurt because she really did love Monica, but after that, despite saying they’d still be friends, it took well over two years before they had re-entered each other’s lives and started talking again.

That was years ago now, though, and Monica and her partner were still playing, so whenever they were in the same place, they tried to have dinner or drinks together. Kendra was currently watching her friend and her partner win their first match of the tournament. Monica passed to Selena, who set her up for a kill, and Monica swung. The ball landed in the sand – thankfully, inbounds – but when Monica came back down on the sand, it appeared that she’d rolled her ankle.

“Shit,” Kendra muttered.

Monica called a timeout and hobbled over to their bench, where she sat down and waved over the trainer to take a look. Kendra watched on, hoping her friend would be all right, and she thought back through the entirety of their relationship, from friendship to romance and then the subsequent reconnection, like Kendra always seemed to do whenever they were together. She’d had a crush on Monica when they were in high school, but she’d been seventeen when they’d first started hanging out, and Monica had only been fifteen. Kendra hadn’t known that Monica was also struggling with her sexuality, but she probably should have guessed when she’d come out to Monica two years later.

Kendra could remember that day like it was yesterday. They were on the beach, as they so often were, but instead of playing volleyball, they were lying out in the sun, talking about Kendra’s college life and how Monica would soon be out of high school. For whatever reason, Kendra had decided that that was the moment to tell Monica that she was gay. Monica had started acting differently after that, and Kendra had worried that it had been due to her declaration making Monica feel uncomfortable, but then there had been these touches a few months later and calls that went on for hours. Still, nothing had happened because Kendra hadn’t been sure, and she wasn’t about to pressure her friend for something and risk ruining what they had.

It took nearly two years for Monica to tell her, and while Kendra had wished back then that they’d had those years together, she was also glad that it worked out how it had. Kendra had waited for her, and after a few dates, they got to be each other’s firsts. That was something she’d be eternally grateful for, because how many people got to lose their virginity to their best friends, first loves, and someone they trusted so completely?

As Kendra continued to daydream about those days when they’d been in love and the days when they’d started to fall out of it, she watched the woman stand and attempt to walk on her ankle. Monica did a few tentative jumps and jogged a bit, giving the trainer and everyone else standing around the thumbs-up before back on the court they went.

Monica and Selena wouldn’t make it on center court where there were actual stands until they made it to the quarterfinals because they were on Aspen and DJ’s side of the bracket, and those two were always on center court, so if someone wanted to watch them, they had to stand outside and watch them on one of the eight other courts that were set up next to each other, allowing people to see multiple matches at a time and walk between them however they wanted.

The match started back up, and Kendra checked the score, noting that Monica and Selena only needed two more points to win the set and the match. She watched her friend struggle but manage to pass up to her partner, who smartly hit it over in two in order to avoid Monica having to jump and land on her ankle again. The other team should’ve been ready for that, but they weren’t, and the ball hit the sand. It was Selena’s turn to serve, and she must have decided to end the match if she could. She swung hard on her jump serve and earned an ace. They’d won.

Kendra knew where Monica would be headed next, so she held up the pass in her lanyard, showing it to the security guard at the tent section, which held the player tent, the food tent, and the medical tent. He let her inside, and she headed over to the medical tent in search of her friend, wanting to make sure that she was okay. She found Monica already on a table, having her ankle looked at.

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