Thy Neighbor's Wife (15 page)

thing she wanted was to go out with an injury during her first game.

When she thought she had stretched enough, she stretched some

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 79

more, just to be safe, and waited for her teammates to arrive.

Jackie was first.

“Hey there, Setter Extraordinaire,” she greeted with a big

smile.

“Don’t jinx me,” Jennifer scolded.

Jackie laughed. “No worries, babe. You’re going to be great.”

She pushed a lock of her short, blonde hair behind an ear and

pulled from her gym bag a bright yellow water bottle, stamped in

red with the Kodak logo.

“Where’s Rita? And Hannah?”

“Our cheering section will be here in a little while. An entire

game is still a little long for Hannah, so Rita brings her late. That

way they can stay until the end and Rita can see how we do. She’d

rather catch the end than the beginning.”

“I don’t blame her. She doesn’t play?”

“Not any more.” Jennifer detected a hint of sadness in Jackie’s

voice. “She’s always had some knee problems and they got worse

during pregnancy. Her doctor gently suggested she give it up and try

something less punishing on her joints.”

“Bummer.”

“That’s for sure. She was a damn good player. She misses it.”

They stretched together for several minutes, discussing how

common knee injuries were for female athletes. Steve and Nikki

showed up soon after that, having run into each other in the parking

lot. Steve wore baggy, plaid shorts in blues and greens and a white

t-shirt with a small, illegible logo on the left chest. Nikki was

dressed in red, Lycra shorts that accentuated her long, shapely

legs—Jennifer pulled her eyes away before she got caught staring.

Her pale yellow tank top fit loosely. The wrap-around athletic sun-

glasses hid her eyes, which was a bit unnerving for Jennifer, who

couldn’t tell if Nikki was looking at her or not.

About three minutes later, David joined them. He looked like

he’d walked straight out of a magazine. His bright orange swim

trunks showed off his muscular legs and the royal blue t-shirt he

wore clung to his massive shoulders like it was wet. He sat next to

Jennifer in the circle and they all chattered on about their respective

days.

“Well, it’s about damn time,” Jackie scolded in jest as Alex

approached.

“Sorry. Lost track of time,” Alex said breathlessly.

We have the best-looking team on the beach, Jennifer thought,

suppressing an embarrassed giggle as she sat in the sand and looked

up to observe her friend. Alex wore black, cotton shorts and a rasp-

berry colored, long sleeve t-shirt emblazoned across the front with

the word “Provincetown” in thin, white letters. Her dark hair was

80 Georgia Beers

pulled back into a ponytail, several strands already escaping and

brushing along her ears. Her sleeves were pulled up to the middle of

her forearms, revealing muscles and the beginnings of a summer

tan. Jennifer looked up at Alex’s face and felt an immediate jolt at

the realization that Alex was looking back at her. She quickly

looked down and busied herself by picking sand out of her toes.

“Hey, neighbor. You ready?”

Jennifer nodded. “I think so. We’ll see soon enough, won’t

we?”

Alex recognized the nervousness in her voice, squatted next to

her, and placed a warm hand on her back. “Relax. You’re going to

be fine. This is fun, remember?”

The reassurance was sweet and Jennifer felt her anxiety slip

down a notch or two.

“Fun. Right.” She nodded. “I’m with you.”

“Good.” Alex smiled, then grabbed Jennifer’s hand and hauled

her to her feet. “Come on.”

They joined the rest of the team, who had already moved to the

court for warm-ups. They passed the ball around, loosening their

arms and fingers. Then they lined up to do some hitting. Jennifer

stood at the net, setting to her teammates one by one. Her sets were

accurate and that went a long way in alleviating some of her ten-

sion.

After half a dozen sets, she backed off to let Nikki set a few and

returned to the sidelines where she stretched her quads one last

time for good measure and sized up their opponent.

She remembered Alex telling her how hard it was to find a

women’s league in sand volleyball. There just wasn’t as much inter-

est. Because of that, there were mostly men’s leagues and co-ed

leagues. She said that in most co-ed leagues, a team consisting of all

women was allowed, but an all-men’s team was not. Jennifer winced

as she realized that the team they were about to play included the

Snarling Man, and was all men except one.

All boys would be a better description, she thought with dis-

may. Not one of them looked older than twenty-two. The only one

who was under six feet tall was the girl and Jennifer’s mouth fell

open when she saw her vertical leap.

Alex was suddenly next to Jennifer, reaching her left arm up

and behind her head, stretching her triceps. “Ick. These guys don’t

look like much fun, do they?”

“I was hoping you’d say you’ve played them before and they

look much more intimidating than they are.”

“Sorry, babe. They’re new this year.” She watched the Snarling

Man spike the ball straight down into the sand, roaring with satis-

faction. “And a bit too serious, if you ask me.”

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 81

“This ought to be fun,” Steve commented sarcastically, joining

the two women in watching their opponents. “What are they, six-

teen?”

“College boys, I bet,” Nikki added, approaching them with a

frown. “I hate playing college boys. They’re assholes.”

Jackie and David finished their warm-ups and joined the other

four. Jackie took on the role of coach and pulled the players into a

huddle merely by the sound of her voice.

“Okay, listen up. These little bastards are going to be tough.

But that’s all they are. Little bastards who think they know this

game. The bad news for them is that they’re all about power and

they know nothing about skill and consistency. That’s why we’re

going to beat them. Don’t be intimidated. We were playing this

game when they were in grade school, so let’s take them back to

class and teach them a thing or two. Stay sharp. Keep moving. Lots

of talk. Okay?”

Her pep talk seemed to spark the team, building their confi-

dence as it was meant to. Six fists stacked in the middle of the hud-

dle. They did a quick cheer and the game was on.

* * *

By the time Rita and Hannah arrived, the match was in the

middle of the second game. The good guys had taken the first game,

but it had been a struggle and they were exhausted, all six of them

drenched in sweat. Rita’s dark eyebrows lifted in surprised. It was

unusual for the first game of the season to be so intense.

The exhaustion had already taken its toll, and they were down

by eight points. “Free!” Jackie hollered, as the other team’s back

row player sent the ball over. Steve received it with ease and sent it

gracefully up to Jennifer in the front row. She set Alex, but the

dark-haired woman’s approach was off and the seven-foot monster

on the other side of the net stuffed her easily, bellowing with delight

and high-fiving his mates.

“I hate him,” Alex muttered as she turned away from the net,

looking defeated.

Jennifer grabbed Alex’s upper arm and pulled her close to her,

talking quickly in her ear. “Listen to me. You’re only a step off and

he’s blocking you inside. Start one step closer to the net than you

have been and hit down the line instead of the center of the court.

Nobody’s covering there.”

She watched as Alex absorbed the information, and then read-

ied herself to receive the serve. It skimmed the net as it came over

and Nikki was able to make herself play it, albeit a split second

later than usual. It used to be that when a serve hit the net, it was

82 Georgia Beers

whistled dead and a side out was called. That was how Jennifer

remembered it. That rule had changed. A net ball on the serve was

now legal, much to her surprise. Not only did it seem like a pointless rule change, but the people who had been playing the game for

ten years or more had a terrible time adjusting to playing a serve

that was a net ball. As a testament to that fact, Nikki’s pass was

ugly, but Jennifer managed to get to it and set Alex again. This

time, her approach was perfect. The seven-foot monster was up to

block again, growling menacingly, but Alex kept her cool. Com-

pletely faking him out, she did as Jennifer had suggested, spiking

cleanly straight down the line. Sand flew and the whistle blew.

Point.

Alex whooped happily in an unmistakable imitation of her

blocker. Jennifer couldn’t help but smile.

“Beautiful set,” Alex commented.

“Nice hit,” Jennifer responded, slapping Alex’s raised hand.

“Now you’ve got to pay attention. They’ll probably have you cov-

ered there.”

“Leaving something else open.” She smiled a dazzling smile

and Jennifer felt her stomach flip-flop. Five minutes before, Alex

had been miserable and now she was smiling. The selfish part of

Jennifer wanted to take credit for that…and did.

Jackie called a time out, more for a rest than for any strategiz-

ing. The team members all grabbed their water bottles or Gatorade

and drank deeply.

“God, I’m glad it’s only seventy out,” Steve commented, wip-

ing his face with a towel. “We’d have passed out by now.” He was

covered with sand from head to toe, as was David. All six of them

were drenched.

“Nice job, Alex,” Jackie commended. She waved to Hannah,

who was busy building a sandcastle. “Keep your eyes peeled. That

spot’s been open a lot.”

“Jennifer was gracious enough to point that out.” She smiled at

Jennifer.

“Well, it worked. They’re getting pissed off. I don’t think they

like the idea of losing to a team of mostly women. No offense,

guys.”

“None taken,” Steve answered.

“Watch out for the guy in the red shirt,” Nikki suggested,

pointing to the Snarling Man with her eyes. “He just came into the

front row. I’ve seen him play indoors. He’s not very consistent, but

if he gets a perfect set, his spike is so fast you won’t even see it until

after it bounces.”

Jackie nodded and caught David’s eye. He was their tallest and

strongest player and, as luck would have it, in the front row during

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 83

the upcoming rotation. “He’s all yours, darlin’.”

“He’s not really my type…” David began with a wry grin, add-

ing a decidedly feminine lilt to his voice.

Jackie slapped him playfully. “Hey, he’s got a penis, doesn’t

he?”

“Good point.”

They did their cheer just as the whistle blew, marking the end

of the time out, and went back onto the court. They were off again

in a mere seven minutes, having dumped game two by twelve

points.

They were feeling dejected as game three began. The opposing

team was nothing short of obnoxious. They argued every call, mak-

ing the referee completely miserable. They were sloppy in their

approaches and landings. More often than not, when coming down

from a spike, they came down dangerously under the net, taking out

Jackie once and Steve three times. They had no sportsmanship

whatsoever and playing them was simply no fun at all.

But they were good.

Alex was close to the end of her rope, Jennifer could tell by the

smoldering disgust on her face. She was being stuffed left and right

and it left her skittish about spiking at all. She’d actually asked Jen-

nifer to set David for a while so she could get herself together.

Mirroring their last on-court conversation, Jennifer pulled Alex

close once again. “You can’t go through a tree. Go around him.

Next one’s yours.”

Alex nodded, setting her jaw and swallowing hard as she set up

to receive the serve. It ripped over the net and Steve received it eas-

ily. He was by far their best at service reception and Jennifer always

felt a little tingle of relief when the serve headed for him. It meant

she’d get a nice, easy pass, which would greatly increase the

chances of her getting a good set off to Alex or David. She put the

ball up for Alex, who heeded Jennifer’s advice, hitting around her

blocker—the Snarling Man. It wasn’t an incredibly strong hit, but

Alex got it past him and he didn’t like it.

It was received in the back row and sent forward to their setter.

She put it up perfectly for the Snarling Man, who went up with

impressive form, almost in slow motion, as Jennifer dropped back

and Alex and David went up to double block.

Jennifer didn’t see his arm swing at all. Actually, she didn’t see

the ball at all until it hit her squarely in the face. She didn’t recall

falling, but when all she saw was the sky, she decided she must

have. Sound seemed to be affected as well. All she could hear was

the rushing of blood in her ears. She blinked rapidly, totally con-