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

CHAPTER 35

As the number one team in the world in their sport, there were always expectations on their shoulders. They’d won the majority of their tournaments since becoming partners, so everyone expected them to win. If they lost, even coming in second, they weren’t living up to those expectations and were, therefore, a disappointment. Aspen both loved and hated that pressure at the same time because she felt that it made them better on the sand, but it was also a lot to live up to, and if they focused on that too much, it could be their downfall.

Losing because of Aspen’s injury had given them an excuse. People had reported that she’d played through both the pain and the swelling, and she’d been seen as a player with guts. But when they’d just lost in the other international tournament because they’d played poorly, people had been less kind.

“Is the world continuing to catch up to the Americans when it comes to beach volleyball? After decades of bringing home gold medals on the women’s side – three in a row by Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, and then at least bronze or silver before another gold – can the team of Aspen Ashley and DJ Stevens actually bring home a medal? Many are wondering if they can even qualify, as they’ve yet to create an insurmountable distance between themselves and the other US teams trying to qualify. If they don’t win in Berlin to earn that automatic qualification, there’s actually a chance that the number one team in the world doesn’t get to play on beach volleyball’s biggest international stage,” a reporter had said.

Aspen had turned off the TV when she’d heard it, and she’d used it to fuel their fire. They’d won their first three matches with relative ease, and then Kendra had arrived, so Aspen felt better just having her in the same city with her. They’d won that fourth match with some struggles here and there, but they’ll pulled it off in three sets. Now, they were in the semifinals, up against a team from Argentina that was ranked fifteenth in the world, had been playing incredibly well, and had won all of their preceding matches in only two sets, so they weren’t as tired as Aspen and DJ.

“Good luck, babe,” Kendra said and kissed her on the lips.

“Thanks,” Aspen replied with a wink.

DJ stood there and rolled her eyes at them.

“What? Mark kissed you this morning,” Aspen noted.

“At the hotel, before we left.”

“Because he’s going home. He lost yesterday and didn’t want to stay to support you. Weird, if you ask me.”

“Chase wants to get home to practice, and Mark is his partner – he kind of has to be there to practice with him.”

“Will you two get out there already?” Kendra asked and pushed gently at Aspen’s stomach. “You look great in a bikini. Have I ever told you that?”

“A few times now. But you can keep saying it.” Aspen leaned in again. “One more, for luck.” She kissed Kendra again and then turned and walked into the stadium to start their unofficial warm-up.

“So, did you tell her that you love her yet?” DJ asked.

“No, it’s been a month,” Aspen said and turned back around to make sure her girlfriend couldn’t hear them, but Kendra was already making her way up into the stands, into the section reserved for players’ families.

“Oh, please. It’s been more than that. You two were dancing around it for at least three months before that. Maybe even four.”

“Either way, I don’t know if she’s there yet.”

“But even if she’s not ready to say it, you still can. Or can you not handle her not saying it back?”

“God, I hope I don’t have to. It would hurt, yeah, but at the same time, I don’t want her to say something she’s not ready to say.”

“I’m a big believer that if you feel it, you should say it. People should know.”

“Have you told Mark yet?”

“What? No. I don’t love Mark. We just started going out. I like him a lot, yeah, but I’m not even close to love. And neither is he.”

“But you’ll tell him, if you ever get there, even if you’re not sure he’s ready to say it?” Aspen asked.

“Yeah. But you’re never sure people will say it back, are you? There’s always a chance they’ll just say, ‘Thank you,’ or tell you that they’re not ready for that. It’s always a risk. If you feel it, you should tell her. Besides, she’s there, Aspen. It’s obvious to everyone.” DJ nodded toward the stands. “I mean, look at her.”

Aspen looked up from the bench where she’d just dropped her bag and saw Kendra staring back at her, eyes wide open, with a smile on her face. Aspen smiled back at her and turned away because she needed to focus on the very important match that was about to happen.

“I’ll tell her if we win tomorrow, so you have to help me do that if you want me to process my feelings,” she said to DJ.

“Oh, I’m all-in on that idea. Let’s go,” DJ replied.

After their own warm-up, they took a quick break to rehydrate while the artificial sand was sprayed with water to help cool it down before the official warm-ups started. Today, they were playing against a team that had chosen to go with two taller players, and that strategy had been paying off for them because neither player was particularly short or extremely tall. One of them was 5’10”, and the other was 5’11”. That meant they were both great on defense and could still get some height on their jumps to get a kill over the net. It did make them a little weak on their blocks, though, which would give a great hitter like DJ free reign to hit down and hard.