no strings attached - j.b

parents

"Come in" Phoebe called out as there was a knock on the office door, while she looked at a few more pictures that were taken at today's workout, some of which she was supposed to upload to Instagram.

"tell me, is it planned that Paige's name on the door will be exchanged with yours soon? I don't know the last time I found her in her office" Joe entered the room and pointed to the writing on the door.

Phoebe laughed. "Don't worry, if you miss her, I can assure you that you'll find her back here as soon as college starts for me. before that, Paige makes as much as she can of her time away from the office and thus doing other things. For example, looking over the photographers' shoulders to make sure they're taking the right pictures."

Phoebe flipped the screen and showed Joe a picture of him taken in practice this morning, where he was just exhausted drinking from a water bottle. "I better not see this on Insta" warningly Joe raised his finger, which only made Phoebe grin.

"if you're looking for Paige, I'd be happy to text her and ask where she is so you can get to her" Phoebe suggested, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "well, to be honest, I just came from Paige's since I asked her where you were. I wanted to talk to you" Joe ran a hand over the back of his neck.

"oh..." Phoebe put her phone aside in surprise and pointed to the chair on the other side of the desk. "in that case, sit down. do you want a cookie? have made them myself" she pushed the plate towards him.

Gratefully, Joe took one of the cookies and took a bite. "oh, wow,these are really yummy. I didn't think you could bake" he stated in surprise.

"thanks, apparently it's a disorder" Phoebe mumbled before leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "so why are you here?"

"well, because of the wedding thing and stuff. I said I'd think about it and..." Joe sighed. "I'll go with you" surprised, Phoebe looked at him. "really now?"

Joe nodded. "Sam talked to me again and talked me into it. just as a question, what would you do if Sam didn't exist?" he asked. "miss the best friend you could ask for and get through life a lot harder?" Phoebe sighed in relief.

"thank you, you don't know how much this means to me that you're going with me" she looked at him gratefully. "ok, first of all, I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for Sam and secondly, I still have a few requirements" Joe clarified.

"ok, what do you want in return?" Phoebe asked, leaning forward and folding her hands on the table, ready to negotiate anything.

"first, I want you to keep me out of as much social media stuff as possible. no unnecessary interviews, no challenges, or anything else" Joe stated his first condition.

"ok, yes, i can do that. only from social media post, so pictures of you i can't leave out. that's what people want to see" Phoebe clarified. "deal" Joe nodded.

"second, if we're going to play a couple for the weekend, let's do it right. we share a room. We share a bed and we let your family think we are really together" Joe enumerated.

Phoebe looked at him surprised. She hadn't thought Joe would suggest they share a room let alone a bed for the weekend, but if that's what he wanted. After all, it wouldn't be the first time they slept next to each other.

"ok, I agree with that" Phoebe nodded. "good, one more question about that. Do Mike, Katie and the rest of the Brown family know about this?" Joe asked.

"I told them I told the lie and that I'm trying to find a player as my date, but I'm still going to tell them it's you" Phoebe explained, to which Joe nodded in satisfaction.