City of Champions: Jalen Hurts

13

Reese peered at the scale below her, reading the three digit number.

"One twenty eight." She whispered to herself, stepping off of the scale. "Not too bad."

Serina had instructed Reese on several occasions not to weigh herself at night. Something about having more accurate results. Reese never listened, though and continued to do it. It pushed her to work harder.

The goalie had a brief soccer workout for international teams tomorrow. Her final year of college soccer hadn't gone as planned with her shoulder injury but teams were still very, very interested in her.

"What you doin', Reese?"

She shimmied the scale back into the corner before calling over her shoulder. "I'm peeing. Gimme a second."

"Hurry up." Jalen called back, taking a seat on the bench. "How fucking long do it take to piss?"

Reese rolled her eyes before flushing the toilet and running the water for a couple of seconds. She hadn't peed, nor did she need to.

"Sorry." She shut the bathroom door soundlessly behind her before approaching him. "Do you want to go and do something?"

Jalen stood up, looking over her face. "What you was just doing in the bathroom?"

Reese tilted her head to the side. "When?"

He stared at her for a few seconds before nodding his head slowly. Jalen didn't get it regardless of how he was still trying to understand. She needed to open her mouth and say something before Jalen's patience boiled over.

Reese had a good few weeks.

Her soccer cleats with Under Armour were officially in the making and she was ecstatic. She always dreamed of having her own cleats and in just a few weeks, they'd be hitting the shelves.

Her family, Jalen and a few members of his family, and a couple of friends would all be flying to Jamaica tomorrow after workouts to celebrate.

Reese knew that vacationing came with breaking diets and enjoying time away. She was anxious for it so for the past few days she'd been obsessively weighing herself to make sure she was staying on the right track for at least right now.

"What you wanna do, Reese?"

She knew that he was skeptical of what exactly she was doing in the bathroom so to calm his thoughts, Reese suggested something she knew he wasn't really expecting. "Can we go get food?"

"Shit." Jalen slung the gym bag over his shoulder. "You'on gotta tell me twice."

She laughed and led the way upstairs and out of the house.

Reese didn't really want to eat anything right now. She wasn't even hungry. She didn't even know why she asked him that. She did know that Jalen was trying to understand this thing with her and food so she at least had to try.

"I'm so fuckin' hype for this shit." Jordan said, storing his carry on. "Can't wait to see all the Jamaican baddies."

Serina rolled her eyes, a small smile on her lips. "I'm not sure that's what this trip is about, Jordan. But... to each his own."

A deep sigh fell from Reese's lips as she took her seat. Jalen already had the seat right next to her which she was thankful for.

"What's the problem?"

Reese complied as Jalen pulled her legs across his lap. "Nothing. I'm kind of tired."

"Take yo' ass to sleep then." He instructed, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'a be up."