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“DJ, you don’t have to do that. I’m sorry. I–”

“I get that you want to wait with Kendra and that you’re basically perfect in all things because you have pretty much postponed your life for this, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us, mere mortals, are any less dedicated to our sport, Aspen.”

“I know that, DJ. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I didn’t know that about you.”

“I’m going back to the room. I’ll text you if they have another one for me so that you know why I’m not there when you get back later.”

“Yeah, okay,” Aspen replied, admitting defeat.

She watched DJ head toward the beach sidewalk with her bag and sighed loud enough that people could probably hear it over the ocean. It was midday in Rio, and she and DJ were supposed to be practicing for the whole day, but if DJ needed space, she’d give her that. After all, she wanted her partner to be ready to work with her tomorrow. For her to respect DJ’s wishes, though, it meant that Aspen couldn’t go back to their hotel room right now.

She looked around at the courts that had been set up on the beautiful beach and watched the other teams do their practices while people milled about, setting up the final elements for the event that would officially start tomorrow. Sitting there without DJ, on the court they had reserved for their own training, Aspen knew she’d look ridiculous. She was also hungry and thought about grabbing something to eat at one of the stands or restaurants along the sand, but instead, she picked up her phone and checked the time. With the time difference, it was morning in Los Angeles, so she decided to see if Kendra was at work yet and dialed.

“Hey,” Kendra greeted.

“Hey,” she said.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you supposed to be training right now?”

“I was. We were, I mean. But DJ just took off.”

“What? Why?”

“She was tired, and I made her practice anyway.” Aspen found her towel and laid it on the sand to act as a pillow before she moved to lie down.

“She should be used to that, right?”

“You’d think that. She’s mad that I was calling her on her shit.”

“The crappy play yesterday?”

“Yes,” Aspen said, grateful that Kendra understood. “She decided to stay out late and have some drinks, waking me up when she got back to the hotel to take care of her. I only got a few hours of sleep, too. Then, we get here, and instead of wanting to try to adjust and get back into the swing of things after we barely won yesterday, she’s complaining that she’s too tired.”

“Okay… But if she’s that tired, maybe she should rest so she can play better tomorrow?”

“Maybe, yeah. But when I suggested that she chill things with Mark, she got pissed and ran off. Now, she’s checking out of our room and trying to find one for herself because she says she needs space. It’s like we’re married, and I didn’t even know it.”

“Well, I hope not,” Kendra replied.

That made Aspen smile.

“You know what I mean,” she said.

“You’re athletes who depend on one another, so while it’s not exactly marriage, it kind of is at the same time. And right now, you two are working without a coach, so you don’t have a neutral third party there to help.”

“That’s what I said. Well, not exactly how you said it. I might have suggested that I have to tell her how it is because there’s no one else here to do it.”

“Let her sleep it off, Aspen. I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’s just tired, and it sounds like she might be starting something with Mark.”

“He asked her out, and they’re going on a date when we get back. I think I really pissed her off when I suggested that she not date until the end of the season or, at least, until we’ve qualified.”

“You told her that?”

“I asked her that,” Aspen corrected.

“Is that what you’re doing right now?” Kendra asked.

“What do you mean?”