"Wait, so..." Reese looked at Jordan as her parents talked in the next morning. "Mom is not with Dad anymore because she's with someone else. And Dad is back with Mom?"
Jordan chuckled, shaking his head as him and Jalen looked at the tablet. "Which Mom, Reese's Cup? We got two of 'em- Oh, shit. I think I see what they did."
"Me, too." Jalen pointed at the screen. "They runnin' 2 high safeties but they got a cornerback spy, leaving one wideout open."
Jordan nodded. "They ain't blitzing, either."
Jalen rewinded the tape. "You right. They only rushing 3, not 5."
"How are you guys watching football film at a time like this?" Reese looked at the screen. "Plus, y'all are wrong. He's not a cornerback spy."
The quarterback smacked his teeth, giving her a side eye. "What is it, then?"
Reese literally played goalie, which was a defensive soccer position. So, she knew a thing or two about defensive scheme planning. So, she shooed them out of her way and rewinded the tape.
"He's not a spy. He's just a pretend spy." Reese did a slow replay, using her pointer finger to break down the play. "He's making sure Jalen second guesses his reads. The corner is actually gonna cut back and tackle Dallas Goedert after Jalen dumps the ball off."
Jordan looked at Jalen. "He's daring you to throw the ball. Tre Diggs pretends to be the QB spy to make you second guess your reads so you'll just throw a short pass instead of throwing it down the field."
"So, then..." Reese clicked a different view of the same play, making Jalen and Jordan lean in closer. "What you're not remembering is Tre Diggs is their best corner. So, that leaves a corner that's not as good on DeVonta' and AJ is right here wide open with a linebacker trying to chase him down."
Jalen looked away from the play and at Reese.
"You just made this niggas dick hard." Jordan said without thinking twice. "How you know all that Reese?"
She thought about it then frowned. "I actually have no idea."
"So..." Jalen glanced at the tablet. "We be getting our ass beat by the Cowboys every time we play them niggas and you wasn't bouta tell us what kind of defense they was running?"
Reese laughed. "We have bigger issues right now."
"Oh, yeah." Jordan said. "So, Mom and Dad aren't together anymore."
"Mom as in Serina?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Then, Mom number 2 is back with Dad."
"Jessica."
"Yes." Jordan said. "And Mom 1 is dating some other nigga."
Jalen tried to wrap his head around what they were talking about but he didn't get it. They had 2 Moms and had both of them around. Not only that- they called both of them Mom. This is why Jalen minded his business when it came to a lot of stuff.
"So that's what Mom wanted to tell us?" Reese said. "I've only been in Philly for a week."
"That's what I'm saying."
Serina opened the door, revealing she and Sterling. "Alrighty, guys. It's time we talk."
"Wait, why is Bri here?" Layla whispered to Reese as they took their seats. "I'm really confused about why this bitch-"
Reese shook her head. "She friends with this girl on my team. I guess she brought her as a plus one."
The Washington Spirit were conducting a youth camp for young girls in soccer and Reese invited all of her family to support. Savannah, interestingly enough, only invited Bri who was glancing at Reese every couple of seconds.
Jalen and Jordan arrived not long after, having spent the morning in the a gym they found close to Reese's apartment. They were enjoying being in DC and Reese didn't understand how.
"What's good?" The quarterback watched as Reese stood to greet him. "When you get here?"
She hugged him, ignoring his question. "Your ex is here."
"Why?" Jalen rubbed Reese's back. "She ain't fuckin' wit' you, is she?"
"No but..." Reese kept her voice at a low murmur, not wanting anyone in their business. "She's looking at me right now and it's a little weird."
The quarterback glanced over his shoulder, spotting Bri and Savannah seated on the bleachers. Briana offered a small and innocent looking smile prompting Jalen to sigh and turn away from her.
He'd only just gotten here and he could feel himself growing frustrated. Bri wasn't interested in sports any other time but today just had to be the day.
"Ignore that shit, bruh." Jalen instructed, lifting her chin. "You understand me?"
Reese mustered a nod. "Mhm."
He wrapped her arm around her and they made their way to center field. Jalen was gonna try not to let Bri ruin him flying out to support his girlfriend but he was already a little annoyed.
Like, why are you here?
"Alright, guys!" One of Reese's coaches spoke out amongst the children. "I'm happy you guys all made it out today. I'm gonna have all my players go around and introduce themselves. Savannah, you wanna go first?"
The veteran outfielder stepped to the center of the group. "My name is Savannah. I am 26 and I have played for the Spirit my whole career."
It went around the group of soccer players until it was Reese's turn. She stepped to the center of the circle and gave a smile. "I'm Reese. I'm 22 and I'm a rookie."
"I have your cleats!" A young girl pointed to her soccer cleats that were no doubt from Reese's Under Armour line. "See?"
Reese giggled. "You make them look good."
"We also have a few Philadelphia stars here with us." Reese pointed to Jordan and Jalen. "Want to introduce yourselves?"
Jordan chuckled. "Hell- Heck, yeah. My name is Jordan. Reese my little sister and I'm a Defensive End for the Eagles."
Jalen stepped up next, looking around the group. "My name is Jalen. I'm a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. I'm excited to be working with y'all today."
Reese admired Jalen as he spoke. He was so handsome and his Houston accent was so smooth. The man standing near her was the epitome of perfect.
"My big sister said that you have a girlfriend and it's Reese!" Another girl called out, pointing to Reese. "Is that true?"
Everyone around the circle laughed, including Reese who looked down at her own cleats. Jalen was a private guy and she didn't know exactly what he was gonna say to that.
"Yeah. 'Dis my baby right here." Jalen put a hand on top of Reese's head. "She real good at soccer and she gon' get y'all right."
After the group parted, taking their own sides of the field. Jalen joined Reese with her small group of children, adjusting the sleeve on his arm. As an athlete, competition was always in his blood. It didn't matter to him if they were children or not.
"Okay, huddle up guys." Reese kneeled down in front of them. "Who wants to be our goalie?"
A short blonde girl raised her hand. "Me."
"Alright." Reese nodded. "You five are gonna be our outfielders so I'm gonna have you guys practice with Jordan and Layla."
They had a few minutes of practice before the short exhibition game. Reese was coaching one team and Savannah was coaching the other. It started pretty smoothly with Reese's team down by just a goal.
"Don't forget to stand in the center of the goal line." Reese called to her goalie, standing beside Jalen. "So you can cut to any direction."
Savannah smirked. "Stop cheating, Reese."
Reese shook off the comment and focused back on her team, watching them take the ball up the field. She placed her hands on her hips, watching her team approach the goal. "Finish! Finish!"
When Reese's team scored to tie the game, she clapped loudly. "Yeah!"
Savannah did a quick huddle with her team before the game resumed. The opposing team made their way up the floor before Reese saw one of her players get pushed down.
The ref blew a whistle and Reese jogged out to the field. "Play nice."
"Play nice?" Reese helped her player up, brushing her uniform off. "This is the fifth time that one of my players fell. Are you gonna call a foul or not?"
Savannah joined them on the field. "Stop whining. I told my team to play harder. Tell your team to stop being weak."
"They're children." Reese's attitude was threatening to come out as she looked at the ref. "My players are getting hit every time they go up the field and you're not calling it."
The red shook his head. "You guys-"
She rolled her eyes. "No. You did it the first time and I kept my mouth closed. Second time, same thing. I don't care what she's telling her players to do but if any player on either team gets hurt, I'm gonna have a problem with her."
Reese walked to the sideline, only half way listening to the applause she was receiving from parents and other attendees. She didn't mind extra physicality in the professional league but these were children and Reese didn't want anyone to get hurt.
The goalie hated to be at odds with her own teammates but Savannah was really pushing her limits. The girl said whatever she pleased, minded business that wasn't hers and lacked respect. Reese was tired of it.
"Good shit." Jalen told her. "Uncross your arms and finish coaching this game, Mama."
Reese watched as the ball went back into play, watching her goalie get into an athletic stance. It was hard to coach children because Reese liked hard coaching but she couldn't be hard on them because none of them were older than 10.
"Block it!" Reese called. "To your left!
Reese watched the small blonde girl run her fastest to her left, blocking the soccer ball with her small finger tips. "Yeah!"
The soccer goalie jogged up the sideline as her team made their way back up to score the ball. She smiled softly watching how they shared the ball with one another. That was definitely something Layla taught them.
A short, brown-skinned girl kicked the ball from the corner and it went crashing into the net, making Reese celebrate like she'd just played in the game herself. "Hell, yeah!"
The red blew the whistle again, signifying the end of the game. Reese jogged out onto the field with her team, laughing as they all celebrated around her.
"That block was amazing." Reese said, ruffling the blondes hair and turning to the brown skinned girl. "And the corner goal was beautiful."
Jalen walked over, giving high fives to everyone. "Y'all played great. Winning is the main thing and don't ever forget that."
"Thanks, Jalen."
The children walked off to celebrate with their parents causing Reese to look on with a smile. It reminded her of a slightly younger version of herself and her family.
Jalen smirked at Reese, admiring her for a moment. Her braids were pulled up into a neat bun and her face slightly glistened with sweat despite the cold weather. She had a smile on her face that could've snatched the air from his lungs right then and there.
I got it bad, Jalen realized with a slight rub to his temple.
Reese was a beautiful angel graced with demons she never deserved. All he hoped was that she was slowly killing them off and he was helping her kill them off.
The quarterback caught her attention with a grab to her hand. "Reese."
"Yes?" She caught sight of the look in his eye and the smile on his lips. "Jalen, no."
He pulled her closer, shaking his head. "Nah' cause I need you ta' hea' this."
"Okay." Reese agreed reluctantly, her lips curving upwards. "If you're gonna say what I think you're gonna say- and I'm pretty sure I know what it is-"
"I love you."
She nodded slowly, biting her lip. It wasn't the Reese didn't want him to say it because she did. Nothing could compare to the feeling in her chest the moment the words left his lips.
"Oh, man." She shook her hands out, looking frantically around for a minute. "You know I love you too, right?"
Jalen chuckled. "Do you?"
"Yes." Reese pouted. "Now, I'm gonna-"
A hard body went crashing into Reese's side, ending the heartfelt moment. She looked up at Savannah and Bri, rolling her eyes when she realized.
"Sorry." Bri said as they passed. "I'm super clumsy."
Savannah giggled, wiggling her fingers to Reese and Jalen as they walked off. Jalen tried keeping himself calm for a moment before walking off after them.
"Jalen."
"Reese. Don't move."
He stopped them, calling out Bri's name.
Jalen tried to understand but it just wasn't that serious. Bri was taking things too far and disrespecting Reese to a point where it was bordering on childish.
"Whatever problem you got wit' my girl..." Jalen started. "You gon' have ta' dead that shit right na'."
Bri gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "What? Jalen, I love Reese."
"You actin' like a fuckin' teenager." He said to Bri, turning his eyes to Savannah. "And whoever the fuck you is... mind ya' business."
Bri looked at Savannah. "Give us a minute."
When Savannah walked off, Jalen continued talking with a slight attempt to keep his voice down. He wanted to keep his private business to himself and didn't care for her games.
"Look. Whateva' vendetta you got against Reese is fa' no reason." Jalen explained calmly. "You takin' ya' anger out on the wrong person. Take ya' L to the chin, Bri."
Bri crossed her arms but it just didn't hold to same weight as when Reese did it. "You don't think my problem with her or you is justified? If I randomly started hanging out with a guy in the middle of us dating-"
"Why do you keep bringing that shit up-"
"Let me talk. That's the fucking issue. You don't want to hear anyone but yourself." She shot back. "You started hanging out with her while we were still together and expected me to not have a problem with that."
Jalen wrung his hands together. "Briana. I saw that girl one time when me and you was still together and wasn't no other motive than chilling with Jordan. It's like yo' stupid ass completely forgettin' you cheated on me."
"So, you weren't ever in the wrong?" Bri raised an eyebrow, eyes glossing over. "Her name came up in way too many conversations, hanging out with her even after Jordan didn't fucking show up, and then getting into an entire relationship with her after you swore up and down you hated her."
In all honesty, guilt began to settle into his system. Jalen took the fact the Bri cheated on him and channeled every emotion into that. He may have been wrong in some aspects but there was one thing for sure.
Jalen never, ever cheated on Bri.
There may have been an awkward overlap between growing closer with Reese and ending things with Briana, but cheating was not in his blood. Wasn't how he was built.
Now, all feelings of hatred or love for Bri were gone. Jalen was completely into Reese and he loved every spoiled and beautiful piece of her.
"I never cheated on you, Bri." Jalen shrugged. "Never wanted to hurt you but that shit done now. You did what you did and I did what I did. It's over wit' so whatever problem you got, take it out on me. But stay away from my girl and don't fuck wit' her again."
Bri sniffled, hanging her head as she nodded. "I get it."
"Aight?" Jalen nodded. "Bye."
Before he could turn to walk, Bri tried her luck.
The second that she grabbed the collar of his hoodie and pressed her lips to his, Reese looked up to see where their conversation stood. When the soccer goalie saw Bri's lips nearing his, Reese turned her head and walked off to save herself the embarrassment.
So, she missed the part where Jalen pushed her hard enough for her to trip over her feet and fall onto her butt. She missed the part where Jalen threw curses at Bri like it was second nature. She missed Savannah walking up to assist Bri to her feet.
After all, that's what good friends did. They picked you up when you fell.
Layla, who was on an amendment tour with Jalen and Reese, did see how everything happened. Now, it was her turn to be a good friend.
"You okay?" She asked, approaching Jalen.
"Yeah, bruh. She just..." Jalen glanced around then set his eyes on Layla. "Where Reese go?"
"She saw but she didn't wait to see your reaction to it or anything." Layla said, watching Jalen curse softly. "But I did. I saw everything that happened so I can just go explain-"
"Fuck." He cursed, causing Layla to thank everything in the world for the fact that the field was mostly empty.
Even if Layla did go and explain everything to Reese right now, Reese didn't see the whole thing with her own eyes. So it was gonna take a lot for her to forget it happened.
All Reese really saw was Bri leaning in. After that, she left because watching that wasn't something she could handle. Right after they'd just shared the highest form of emotion with one another, Jalen had gone and done that to her.
Maybe, he thought she deserved it all. Maybe, everything Jalen told her since she'd gone back to Philly was just a lie. Maybe, he'd built her up just to watch her fall. Maybe, Jalen had everything and he still wanted more.
Those were Reese's thoughts as she climbed into her Jeep, not thinking twice as she pulled away from the park. Not a single tear had fallen yet but that wasn't something Reese could think about as she pulled out into the road.
Too much was proved to be on her mind because as soon as she pulled out, the last thing Reese could hear was the loud horn of a truck blaring into her ears.