Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Sharks took the court for the semifinal, and Aspen found her spot in the sand and tried to look like a serious competitor instead of the happiest she’d possibly ever been.
And it wasn’t just because of the amazing sex she was having.
The sex she could explain—chemistry was chemistry, she had a doctorate in how bodies worked and theirs were like magnets for each other.
But then Maddy had laid there in the dark and told her things that Aspen was fairly certain Maddy had never told another soul before, and she’d talked about her father.
About Road Rules and fruit-snack wagers and the thing that led her to becoming a reality TV producer.
That was the part Aspen couldn’t stop thinking about.
Maddy hadn’t mentioned her father once in the past five weeks and last night had handed Aspen a whole saga about him.
She’d cracked the joke on purpose, I think that’s the most words you’ve ever said to me.
It had been the first thing out of her mouth after Maddy went quiet, and she’d said it because she could sense exactly how exposed Maddy was feeling, and the very last thing Aspen wanted was for Maddy to regret being vulnerable with her.
So she’d lightened the mood. She’d said something she knew would make Maddy huff and roll her eyes and volley the tease right back, because it meant we’re still us, you didn’t ruin anything by trusting me.
Then there was this morning. Holy fuck. Never let it be said that Maddy Sterling could not give as well as she got.
And the shower—no, she could not think about the shower while standing six feet from Bunny’s megaphone, absolutely not—but then there was the walk.
Down to the beach. When Aspen had threaded her fingers through Maddy’s while her heart pounded in her chest and her whole body braced for the polite withdrawal.
Yes, Maddy had been the one to hold Aspen’s hand and kiss her under the fireworks last night. But that was different. It was dark, everyone’s eyes were on the sky, and they had been in an intimate moment after Aspen had basically confessed to being in love with her for nineteen years.
Which was its own thing that Aspen hadn’t really had time to process yet, but if anything was going to make Maddy run for the hills, as Noa put it, it would have been that.
And she hadn’t. She’d done the opposite.
She’d kissed Aspen right there on the beach with their friends and family sitting fifteen feet away.
Still. PDA in broad daylight was different. It was a statement. One that just two days ago, Maddy had been clear about not being ready to make.
Maddy hadn’t pulled away though. She’d tightened her grip and kept their hands intertwined all the way up the beach. She’d claimed Aspen in front of everyone. Gilda had been typing on her phone within seconds, so surely the entire island knew by now that she and Maddy Sterling were a thing.
The fear was right there, of course, the little voice in her head telling her the other shoe would drop.
Aspen shoved it back down where it belonged, the way she’d been shoving it down all week, because she was not going to let that voice ruin this for her.
Not today. That was a problem for a woman who wasn’t currently this happy.
Right now Maddy was three feet away on the sand with her game face sliding into place, those gorgeous blue eyes scanning the Sharks’ formation.
Across the net, the Amazons were just as locked in.
Lena stood dead center, barely moving, and probably already three strategic moves ahead of everyone.
They hadn’t been calling her the Queen of the Amazons all weekend for nothing.
Zoe was bouncing on the balls of her feet, pointing two fingers at her own eyes and then at Noa.
Ava had her eyes glued to the ball like a honing missile as Maisie tossed it into the air and caught it.
And then there was Grace, sweet Grace, the fourth , who was currently right up against the net, jumping in place with her arms fully extended, trying to reach the top of the net, and getting nowhere close.
“Grace.” Lena said, watching her. “Why don’t we put you in the back?”
Grace snapped her fingers. “Good idea.” As Grace walked past Lena, Lena tucked Grace’s tag into the back of her tank top that had been sticking out and patted her back.
“Sharks.” Bunny’s megaphone crackled to life from up on her platform.
“Amazons. This is a semifinal, my darlings, which means somebody is about to earn a spot in the coveted tug-of-war finale and somebody is about to learn a hard lesson about mortality. Your spectators await, make it entertaining. Maisie, my precious little angel, you’re serving. ”
Maisie planted herself behind the line, squared her tiny shoulders, and held the ball up over her head.
She wound up with her whole body and put the ball straight into the sand about four feet in front of her.
Nobody had expected otherwise. Maisie’s job in this game was morale and she did it better than anyone alive.
The Amazons took the serve, and the real game started.
Playing on the same side of the net as Maddy, it turned out, meant Aspen didn’t even have to look.
Lena sent the ball low and fast toward the seam, exactly where a smart person would, and Aspen was already under it, bumping it up clean, and she knew without checking that Maddy would be there to set it, and Maddy was, soft and high and perfect, and Noa rose up out of the sand and put it down so hard it kicked sand up at Ava’s feet.
“Boom baby!” Noa bellowed, both arms over her head as she grinned at Marion on the sidelines.
Aspen turned to Maddy and Maddy was already grinning at her and held up a flat hand. Aspen smacked it and they got back into position.
They traded points after that, because the Amazons were genuinely terrifying.
Zoe played like she had a personal grudge against the ground and refused to let the ball touch it; twice she dug up balls that no one should have been able to dig up, flat out horizontal, spraying sand, and popped back to her feet without a word and just looked at Noa, daring her to try that again.
Ava dove for everything, including several balls that were clearly going out, and celebrated each save with a war cry before checking whether it had actually worked.
Lena did not dive for anything. She was always, somehow, already standing exactly where the ball wanted to go, and she put it back over with one flick of the wrist. Grace was mostly dodging Zoe and Ava’s flying bodies and trying not to get trampled.
The Sharks had been ahead by three points, but the Amazons clawed it back to a tie after Lena put three serves in a row right on the lines. And then it was match point.
Ava ripped a shot down the line and Aspen left her feet, went fully horizontal, got the heel of one hand under it and shoveled it up and back toward the net—and then physics took over, and she came down hard and skidding, and her own momentum dragged her straight into Maddy’s legs.
The last thing she saw before her temple collided with Maddy’s knee was Maddy’s face going wide with alarm.
Maddy dropped to her knees and cradled Aspen’s head in her lap— and they both looked up to see Noa spike the ball Aspen had flung up blind right at Grace’s feet. Grace tucked her body and protected her head with both arms as Zoe and Ava dove towards her from opposite sides, and both missed.
The beach erupted. “GAME!” Bunny yelled into her megaphone. “THE SHARKS ADVANCE TO THE FINAL!”
Aspen stayed flat on her back in the sand, blinking up at Maddy’s beautiful face, laughing, because she had just won a volleyball match by faceplanting into Maddy’s knee and could not think of a single thing she’d rather be doing.
Maddy was crouched over her, worry still on her face, one hand framing Aspen’s jaw, the other pressed along her hairline looking for damage. “Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?
“I’m fine.” Aspen was still laughing.
Maddy still didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure? How many fingers—”
“Maddy, it was a love tap.” It had stunned her more than it had hurt. The only reason she wasn’t moving was because she was enjoying laying there in Maddy’s arms too much.
Maddy searched her face one more second and the concern drained away. She leaned down and kissed Aspen’s temple, right where it had clipped her knee.
“EWWW,” Maisie howled from somewhere near the net.
Aspen reached up, caught the back of Maddy’s neck, and kissed her once on the mouth, quick.
By the time she got up and brushed the sand off, Lena was waiting at the net to shake her hand.
“Good match.” She held on a beat. “Can’t believe you went for that one.
I’d have let it drop.” From Lena, that was a standing ovation.
Behind her, Ava and Zoe still hadn’t stopped arguing about whether Noa’s spike had landed out.
It had not. It had been so far in it left a crater.
The Sharks retreated to the sideline to catch their breath and watch the other semifinal, the Dawgs versus the Ghost Peppers, which was basically Aspen’s entire family trying to beat Noa’s entire family.
On the court, Mia and Bella were surprisingly agile, and Carmen had a wicked serve. Hector was basically their Maisie.
Marion was the real surprise. After butting heads with Jake all day, they were complementing each other surprisingly well on the court.