beautiful mistake - joe burrow

19

When Elle had been sitting at the table with the guys for over an hour, finishing her glass, she decided to socialize without Joe's help, not wanting to be glued to his side the whole time.

"I'm going to walk around for a bit" she declared before standing up, smiling at the group and looking around the room. There were three women sitting at a table that she had definitely been introduced to before but couldn't remember their names, still she decided to go there.

"hey, can I join you guys?" she asked smiling as she arrived at the table. All three women smiled back in a friendly manner. "Sure, you are welcome. Have a seat" one of them said and Elle gratefully sat down on the vacant chair.

"I'm really sorry, but I couldn't remember all your names before. I was introduced to so many people. Can you just say your names again?" Elle asked nervously. "No problem. We were all new once and even we don't know all the names. I'm Morgan, Logan's fiancée" the first woman introduced herself.

"Gracie, I'm engaged to Evan" the second raised her hand with a smile. "I'm Kayla, wife of Hakeem" the last one also smiled sweetly at Elle. "Oh yes, I remember. Joe told me that you two just got married recently, didn't you? Congratulations" Elle said smiling while Kayla proudly nodded raising her hand on which a wedding ring glittered.

"Your name is Elle, right?" Morgan asked her. Elle nodded. "Nice to meet you, how long have you been with Joe?" Elle looked at Morgan, confused. "We...I mean, we're...not together. I'm the new athletic trainer" she stammered.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I thought, well, you seemed so intimate before and the way he introduced you to everyone, we thought you were a couple" Morgan apologized. Only now did Elle realize that neither Joe nor she had mentioned to anyone what her job was.

"Evan has even mentioned you! Well, he mentioned that there's a female atheltic trainer who apparently is supposed to be pretty young, yet very professional. That everyone who has met her so far is totally excited about her" Gracie laughed. "I'm apparently the attraction at the Bengals right now" Elle laughed.

The women were really great. She sat at the table for over an hour chatting with them about God and the world. They laughed a lot, exchanged numbers and Elle was already invited very surely to the wedding of Morgan and Logan, whenever it would take place. Kayla then proudly showed pictures of her wedding before they talked about Gracie and Morgan's engagements and both proudly showed off their engagement rings.

At one point, Ja'Marr suddenly stood at their table. "Hey Elle, we're going down to the dance floor, wanna come?" he asked after greeting the other women with a quick hello. "I might join you later, ok?" she answered him and Ja'Marr trailed off a bit disappointed.

"You seem to be getting along really well with the guys, well Joe and Ja'Marr, don't you?" Gracie asked when they were alone among themselves again. Elle shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so. I've been training with Joe for two weeks, Ja'Marr I just happen to see a few times, but it's fun with both of them."

After gossiping a bit more, and the women blabbing some more gossip and need-to-knows about the team, Kayla was suddenly snatched away by Hakeem, who loudly announced that he was now going dancing with his wife. Laughing, the other two also decided to find their partners and Elle also made her way to join Ja'Marr on the dance floor.

Just as she was about to walk out the door of the back room to go to the lower part of the bar where the dance floor was located, she spotted Joe sitting bored at a table staring at his cell phone.

Quickly, she walked over to him. "I'm going to join Ja'Marr on the dance floor, wanna come?" she asked as she stood at his table smiling. Joe looked up at her, but shook his head. "Nah, no way. I'd rather stay here" "come on. It's going to be fun. You can't spend the rest of the evening here alone. We're here to party before the seriousness of life kicks in" Joe laughed. "still no. I don't think I should dance with my knee" he declined.

Sighing, Elle held out her hand to him. "Come on, don't be a killjoy. I'm an athletic trainer, nothing will happen to your knee." Joe just laughed. "now come on" she nodded at her hand. sighing, Joe grabbed it and let Elle pull him to his feet. Grinning, she pulled him behind her, ignoring the tingling sensation that swirled through her entire body from her hand in his outgoing.

They ran down the stairs to the dance floor and already the quivering of the bass could be heard. Full of anticipation, Elle opened the heavy door and entered the dance area, still with Joe holding her hand. Immediately she scanned everything for Ja'Marr, but was definitely too small to see anything over the dancing crowd.

"I see him. Just follow me" Joe yelled into her ear against the music. She just nodded and clung tightly to his hand as he fought his way through the crowd. Fortunately, due to his size and build, this wasn't a difficult task for Joe and the short gaps he made by pushing through were enough for Elle to follow him without having to bump into people in a big way.

"There you are" Ja'Marr beamed as they both arrived and immediately pulled them into the circle of players dancing boisterously together. He squeezed between Elle and Joe, making them let go of their hands. "It's great here! You guys want a drink?" he yelled to them.

Neither of them had answered, by which time Ja'Marr had disappeared and was back a moment later with a round of shots. They all toasted in the middle of the circle and dumped the stuff down their throats in one go.

It went on like that for quite a while. They danced, drank a few shots, though Joe and Elle skipped a few because Joe still had to drive and Elle didn't want to drink too much, and just enjoyed the boisterous atmosphere.

Suddenly Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado and Timberland started and Elle immediately beamed at Joe, who by now was dancing next to her. "I love this song" she shouted to him and turned so she was facing him. In the chorus, she started singing along with Nelly's part, which made Joe, who by now had turned to face her, laugh.

She turned her back to him and slid in close for fun. laughing, Joe put his arms around her waist and hugged her to him. She put her hands around his neck and pulled his head onto her shoulders. Their cheeks were now against each other and Elle could feel Joe's breath on her bare shoulder.

Suddenly she turned her head and lightly brushed his cheek with her lips, sending a wave of warmth through Joe's body. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself, but if I get lonely, I'ma need your help" she sang along with the song in his ear before looking up at him and grinning. "Pay attention to me, I don't talk for my health" she winked as Joe laughed, singing along to the only line he was sure he knew from the song. "I want you on my team"

"So does everybody else" Elle shrugged and broke free from Joe's arms, grinning. For a brief moment Joe stared after her in confusion as she leaned over to Ja'Marr and said something to him before grinning. This woman was simply amazing.

A few other songs followed, which they danced to, but never so close again, when suddenly It wasn't me by shaggy and Rikrok started. Everyone suddenly got really excited about the song and started shouting the lyrics along loudly.

At the end of the song, Elle suddenly ended up in the middle of the circle, surrounded by a few of the players and singing along with parts of the lyrics like "but she caught me on the counter" to which everyone around her responded with "it wasn't me".

"oh boy, this woman is so funny. You should really get her" Ja'Marr yelled to Joe as Elle continued to laugh and sing along.

THANKS for 9k reads!!!

Question: do you like songs from the 90s or early 2000s? (Like the songs in this chapter)

My answer: I really love the music from the 90s and early 2000s, they have such a special vibe that brings you in a certain mood. Songs from today are great but idk songs from back then are just hitting different!! It wasn't me is still one of my favorite songs ever. Im always getting a good mood when listening to it.