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“I like margaritas enough. I think this one was sitting out in the sun for a while, though, so the ice watered it down, and–”

“You can just not like a drink, Kendra. It’s okay. Why didn’t you get something else? Not a fan of beer?”

“I like beer, but it’s not my favorite.”

“What is?”

“Red wine, actually. Merlot.”

“No way,” Aspen said with a little laugh.

“Yes. You?”

“My drink?” Aspen asked and handed Kendra hers. “I cheat with white wine usually. Not a huge fan of red. I like my drinks cold, I guess.”

“And you’re cheating with a margarita tonight?”

“Yeah. But it’s cold.” She winked at Kendra.

Kendra took a sip of her wine, hoping the heat from the sun and the wine itself would help hide her blush.

“So, where’s DJ?” she asked.

“With Chase.” Aspen nodded.

Kendra turned to see Chase, the blondest man she’d ever seen, whose hair could be just called white, leaning back against the wall with a bottle of Corona in his hand, and DJ, along with three other people, standing nearby, listening to him talk about something Kendra couldn’t hear, like he was holding court.

“She has interesting taste in men, huh?” Kendra asked.

“I talked to her after I told Mark happy birthday and checked in. She does like him but knows he’s not interested in another relationship right now.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they’ll just hook up. Maybe she won’t want anything. But it’s her choice, right?”

“It is, yeah.”

“I just don’t want her to get hurt,” Aspen added. “Not just because of volleyball. DJ’s a good person. She doesn’t deserve any of Chase’s bullshit.”

“If he does something, I can just say something bad about him on camera the next time I have to interview him,” Kendra suggested. “Maybe something about size. I’ll have to think about the best way to word it to make it clear that I’m talking about his tiny penis without saying the actual word on air.”

Aspen laughed hard and said, “No, you wouldn’t.”

“Probably not. I don’t want to lose my job. It would be funny, though.”

“Hilarious.”

“You don’t have another drink?” Kendra asked.

“No. One’s my limit when I’m in season. Besides, I’m driving you home, so I’m not about to risk doing anything stupid with you in my passenger seat.”

Kendra blushed again and looked out at the water.

“Nice night, huh?” Aspen asked.

“Very nice night,” she agreed. “So, you’ve got another tourney coming up.”

“I always have another tourney coming up.” Aspen leaned over the banister.