Page 38 of Spin Serve

“No,” Kendra replied. “It’s just me trying to get to know you a little bit better.”

“You’re a reporter. I was told I have to specifically state that something’s off the record. I didn’t before, but you said it was fine. Do I now?”

“Aspen, if we’re sitting in my house, everything is off the record by default. If I wanted something to be on the record, I’d just ask or tell you. I’m not a sideline reporter right now, and I’m not writing an article for the New York Times on pro beach volleyball or something.”

Aspen nodded and said, “Alex and I were good. We were really good, actually; about to qualify for the Games as the second US team, potentially. I couldn’t believe it was happening much earlier than I’d expected it to, but we were good together out there.”

“Then?”

“Then, well– Please don’t say anything. I don’t mean as a reporter, either; just as a person. Can you not say anything?”

“I won’t say a word,” Kendra confirmed.

“I didn’t know that Alex was bi. We’d never really talked about that stuff,” Aspen shared. “I went on dates. She did, too. The only dates I’d ever known her to have had been with men, and she’d also had a boyfriend when we first started partnering together, so it had never dawned on me that she was interested in women. Anyway, we were playing well together and hanging out sometimes, but I was single. She was single, too, at this point, and one night, she just told me.”

“Told you?”

“That she was interested in me. She said she couldn’t keep it in anymore and needed to tell me that she was in love with me, and I didn’t know what to do. I liked Alex – I really did – but as a friend and partner, not as someone I wanted to date. I decided to just be honest with her and told her that, and she said we’d be fine. So, we played on. Like most partners, we used to room together when we traveled because it’s cheaper and you end up in each other’s rooms anyway, talking about the next match or whatever, but we stopped that when she told me. It was her request. Then, at one tournament, not all that long after, I ran into someone I’d known from before. She was someone I’d dated briefly in school. We started talking. One thing led to another, and she slept over. When we left the next morning, Alex had been leaving at the same time. I couldn’t stop the woman from kissing me in time, and Alex saw us. She looked devastated. I felt like an asshole, too, and the worst kind at that. That woman and I went nowhere. I haven’t seen her since. And Alex said she couldn’t do this anymore not long after that. I understood. I’d hurt her unintentionally. But I don’t regret telling her that I didn’t feel that way about her.”

“You shouldn’t,” Kendra replied. “It’s awful, yeah, but you shouldn’t regret it. I mean, what would’ve happened otherwise? You could’ve gone out, maybe slept with her – that would’ve been worse.”

“I know.”

“Do you talk to her at all?”

“On social media. I like some of her posts, but only the volleyball-related ones. She has a girlfriend now. They’ve been together for two years, and they look happy, so I think it all worked out for the best. She found her, and I have DJ now. She’s the partner who can get me to the Games, which is my dream.”

“What about the other stuff, though?”

“Other stuff?” Aspen asked before she sipped on her coffee.

“The personal stuff. DJ’s not into women, right?”

“No, she’s straight. I wouldn’t date a partner anyway. If I had feelings for Alex, I would’ve told her we could only date or be partners, not both. I hope it works out for Monica and Selena, but that isn’t for me.”

“Well, those two aren’t going to qualify for the Olympics, and they’re retiring after another season or two, so even if it doesn’t work, they’ll be fine. I have a feeling, they’ll put their relationship over their partnership on the beach, which is a good thing, I think.”

“Me too.”

“Really? That surprises me.”

“Why?” Aspen asked.

“Because it’s volleyball over everything else for you, right?”

“Yes, but only because I don’t have anything else competing with it. I’ve never met anyone I’ve wanted to put above it,” Aspen revealed. “But if and when I do – I love my sport, but I want to love someone so much that they’re the most important thing to me.”

Kendra nodded slowly and said, “That’s nice, Aspen.”

“Is it? Doesn’t everyone feel that way? Don’t you?” Aspen found that she really wanted to know the answer to that question.

“I hope that happens for me one day, yes,” Kendra replied.

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.

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