The week flew by quickly and you could tell the whole organization was looking forward to the training camp. It wasn't long before the regular season would begin, but before that there would be a few preseason games.
Even though it meant more stress and a pretty big workload for the players, everyone was in pretty good spirits. Especially since today, Sunday, would be the first practice, with fans in the stadium.
Of course, for the Brown family, that meant they were there too, standing together as a group on the side of the field, proudly watching their players. Everyone except Phoebe made a chipper impression in the process.
She, on the other hand, had her cap with the Bengals logo pulled down low on her face, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and judging by her posture, looked more like she had just been brought out of hibernation.
Tris, who was standing next to her, had to suppress a grin every time he looked at his cousin, who only made groaning noises when the fans started cheering.
Even Joe, who watched Phoebe from the field a time or two, was quite amused at the sight she presented, because it was clear to him, as it probably was to everyone who looked at her, that she was just completely hungover.
When practice was done, Phoebe was one of the first to disappear inside, while Joe and the players went to the stands to sign autographs for the fans, before gradually stepping into the aisles towards the dressing room as well.
As soon as Joe left the field, Tris was suddenly standing next to him. "Phoebe needs you for something. She wants you to come to her in Paige's office" he explained and was gone before Joe could say anything back.
He couldn't believe that Phoebe really had to work in the condition she was in, but she probably had no other choice, so he decided not to keep her waiting too long either and, after showering and changing, he headed for Paige's office.
Only a low rumble was heard when he knocked on the door, but Joe entered anyway and had to really pull himself together not to laugh out loud. Phoebe was lying with her head on the table, a half-empty water bottle in her hand and a bottle of aspirin next to it.
When Joe cleared his throat, she slowly raised her head, revealing that she was still wearing the sunglasses. "Oh, it's you" Phoebe groaned and finished the water bottle before leaning back in the office chair with a sigh.
"Your cousin directed me to come here. That you needed me. Isn't that right?" Joe asked, confused. Was Tris just trying to annoy his cousin by sending Joe over here?
"No, no, that's right. Sit down" Phoebe waved her arm in the air towards the other chair before groaning and sitting back upright.
"Long night, huh?" Joe nodded with a smirk at the aspirin tablets on the table. Phoebe only made croaking noises as she quickly dropped the pills into her bag.
"Say, didn't your grandpa teach you that it's rude to wear sunglasses inside when you're talking to someone" Joe couldn't stop grinning as Phoebe gave him an evil glare before slowly removing the sunglasses.
"I hate you" she muttered as she slowly opened her narrowed eyes and Joe had to bite his lower lip to keep from laughing out loud at her red, glassy eyes.
"What did you do yesterday that escalated like that?" Joe asked curiously. „Bachelorette party'" Phoebe muttered. "Oh, you're a bridesmaid? Who is getting married?" Joe asked, surprised.
"My cousin, and no, I'm not a bridesmaid. We can't stand each other" Phoebe sighed "So why were you at her bachelorette party?" Joe looked at her in wonder.
"She probably felt sorry for me" Phoebe shrugged. "But you had fun, didn't you? Otherwise you wouldn't be so hung over" Joe stated.
"If I'd been having fun, I might have drank less. Tried to drink everything nice with vodka" she admitted.
"Did you succeed?" Phoebe shook her head. "Some things can't even be tolerated completely drunk" she mumbled.
"Sounds like a great night, but why exactly am I here now?" Joe changed the subject. "Well, actually, for that exact reason" Phoebe sighed.
"So you can tell me about your cousin's bachelorette party, which you can't stand at all?" Joe asked, confused.
"That was the beginning. You know I make bad decisions under the influence sometimes, right?" Phoebe wiped her forehead.
"Who did you sleep with this time? Your cousin's future groom?" Joe raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Phoebe's head shot up indignantly, which she immediately regretted and painfully held her head. "No" she pressed out between clenched teeth. "I'm beginning to understand why everyone thinks I'm a bitch, but I don't jump into bed with everyone right away".
"Whatever" Joe shrugged his shoulders. "So what did you do?" he asked curiously. Phoebe sighed again. "I told them I was dating an NFL player" she admitted quietly.
Joe stared at her with bewilderment. "You didn't tell them we were in bed, did you?" Phoebe shook her head. "I didn't mention a name, just that he's an NFL player."
"So what?" Joe asked, still not understanding what this had to do with him. "Now they want me to bring him to the wedding on Saturday so they can meet him" Phoebe was getting quieter.
"And you expect me to go with you now?" Joe looked at her questioningly. "If you have time, that would be nice..." Phoebe only almost whispered.
"Why me? Why don't you ask Sam?" Joe asked. "Because Sam doesn't have time" Phoebe explained. "I'm not even your first choice?" Joe was outraged.
"Well, Sam's my best friend and we're...we're just ok, so of course I'm going to ask Sam first" Phoebe shrugged.
"I...I don't know what to say, Phoebe. Why should I play along with your lie? Why not just tell the truth? How did it even get to this?" Joe asked.
"My stepsister was there and well, let's just say my relationship with family is...complicated, while she's the total angel. She was going on all night about her new boyfriend who works on Wall Street and is totally awesome and stuff and when she asked me so mockingly how my love life was going, it just...slipped out" Phoebe sighed.
"You didn't want to make a fool of yourself?" Phoebe nodded slightly. In her face Joe suddenly saw something he had never seen before, pain, insecurity, vulnerability.
He sighed. "Phoebe, you've already said....we're not friends and...I don't know if it would really be a smart idea for me to go with you. Besides, we're at training camp..."
"Come on, Joe, please. There's no game next Saturday yet, you're off, and you need to slow down because of your knee anyway. I'd pay for all the travel and stuff, too, of course. The hotel, the flight. We don't have to talk to each other when we're not at the wedding either, you just have to...pretend we're together for a few hours" Phoebe pleaded with him.
"Flight, hotel? Where's the wedding?" Joe asked, surprised. "New York" Phoebe mumbled.
Sighing, Joe stood up. "I'll think about it, okay? Which doesn't mean I like what you did" he stated as he walked to the door.
"Yeah, I know, thanks anyway. Just get back to me" Phoebe mumbled and put her head back on the table as Joe left the room.
Uhh we just won the fcking game 42-21, what the fuck? Mixon, what is going on with you?! 5 TDS?! It was unbelievable
Sorry for not posting the last days. My keyboard doesn't work anymore and it's really annoying to type on the screen keyboard so I wasn't really motivated to write. My new keyboard will get delivered soon and until then I will try to continue writing but I can't promise you that I will.
Have a nice day after that nice win of the Bengals!
WHO-DEY🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
YOU ARE READING
no strings attached - j.b
Fanfiction"I don't want this to get weird in any way, so let's make a deal, okay? We will hook up tonight and after tomorrow we wont see each other ever again. No names, no real stories of us, no exchange of number or social media. I don't want to know anythi...
