no strings attached - j.b

s.l.u.t.

To Phoebe's relief, they weren't sitting at a table with any close relatives of hers, but seemed to have been stuck with some old college friends of Oliver's, who were pretty cool though.

It didn't take long for the guys to realize why Joe looked so familiar to them, and while Joe and they excitedly started talking about football, Phoebe started a casual conversation with the girlfriends.

When the bride and groom returned from the photo shoot, the buffet was opened and the entire table grabbed some food before a brief conversation or two crept in between silent pauses for food.

Joe and Phoebe had to recite their made up story for the first time, which they passed with flying colors, before the topic got away from the two of them again.

After dinner, Joe and Phoebe decided to move away from the crowd and walk around the garden for a bit. The bride and groom were just being entertained with a few games, but in reality everyone was bored and no one was interested.

They were just heading toward the house when Phoebe's mother suddenly stepped into their path. "Faith, One could be forgiven for thinking you were avoiding your family. As soon as you'd finally have time to talk, you're gone" she crossed her arms in front of her chest and eyed her daughter.

"If you knew that was exactly how I planned it, Mother" Phoebe gave her mother a rather judgmental look as Joe looked closer at the woman in front of him. He had been curious all day about how similar Phoebe would look to her mother.

As it turned out, not at all. One could see one or two facial features in Hillary that looked like Phoebe, but neither the eye color nor the hair color, the real hair color was only visible at the roots and there already marked by light gray streaks, matched Phoebe.

Also the nose or lip area were not the same, only the face form and the cheek bones seemed like Phoebe had inherited from her mother. Apparently she did have more of the Brown side than her mother's.

"Your grandma already said you weren't in a good mood" her mother groaned annoyed, but then turned to Joe. "And Virginia mentioned you were coming with a date" she eyed him up and down before holding out her hand.

"Hillary Mullen. Believe it or not, I'm Faith's mother" Joe bristled when again he heard the name. He thought he had misheard the first time, but Hillary was clearly calling her daughter Faith.

"Joe Burrow. Phoebe's boyfriend" he didn't let that distract him, however, but remembered that he would definitely call Phoebe on it later, and shook Hillary's hand.

"Virginia mentioned you were a football player. Is that true? Do you play for her grandpa's team?" she made an almost dismissive hand gesture in Phoebe's direction.

"Yes, ma'am, I play for the Bengals" Joe confirmed. "let me guess, practice roster...safety?" Hillary pondered.

Joe laughed politely. "No, ma'am, I'm the starting quarterback" he corrected her "Starting quarterback?" Hillary looked at him in surprise.

"He won the national title with his college team and was first overall pick in last years draft" Phoebe added, wrapping her arms around Joe's waist with a smile, he grinned and put an arm around her shoulder.

Hillary looked like she didn't like how great and successful Joe was at all, which was why, of course, she immediately interjected with her typical change of subject. "That's really great, Virginia and you both with successful men. Did you hear that her boyfriend works on Wall Street?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Of course. That's what she had to announce several times at the bachelorette party"

"Well, be happy for your sister. She deserves to have a great man by her side after all she's been through" her mother glared at Phoebe.

"She's not my sister" Phoebe clarified. "She's your sister whether you like it or not, Faith. And you might want to take a few examples from her. First, she knows you never disrespect family like that...." her mother raised a warning finger.

"Such words from you, Mother. Not exactly in a position to say such things" Phoebe growled. "...Besides, she also has enough manners not to show up at a wedding looking like a slut" her mother hissed, waving her hands in the direction of Phoebe's dress.

"Excuse me?" Phoebe's voice almost failed her, it became so high and shrill and Joe also looked at Hillary, stunned.

"Yeah, look at that neckline. You might as well have come in a bikini" her mother crossed her arms in front of her chest with a disgusted look.

"Oh, you know, I was actually planning on coming in a hot pink bra that covered nothing but my nipples and a pair of denim shorts to go with it, but unfortunately both of those items were in the laundry right now" Phoebe sneered back.

"Faith, you really are rude, cocky and forward" her mother shook her head in bewilderment. "And this from the woman who just called me a slut" Phoebe laughed out.

"This conversation is over, get back to me when you're in your right mind and can have a decent conversation" shaking her head her mother turned around, tossed her hair over her shoulder and stalked off in a huff.

"so grandmother and mother we're over, all we need is Virginia and we'll have the big three behind us" Phoebe sighed and continued her walk. Joe, still looking behind Hillary in surprise, quickly caught up to her.

"That was...something else" he tried to put the conversation into words. "Oh, that was still a pretty harmless conversation between us. She seems to be in a pretty good mood because of the wedding" Phoebe sighed.

"And why does she call you Faith? Is that one of her ploys to annoy you? Like she doesn't know your real name?" Joe asked with interest. Phoebe laughed out loud. "No, actually Faith is my real name" she explained.

Confused, Joe looked at her. "Faith is your real name? Why does everyone call you Phoebe?" he asked.

"Because Phoebe is my nickname and I like it more than Faith" Phoebe shrugged. "But how do you go from Faith to Phoebe?" Joe asked, still confused.

"Well, when I was younger, at some point Liz noticed that my initials sounded like Phoebe. And somehow that caught on, only my mother didn't approve of calling me that" Phoebe explained.

"Your initials? FB, sounds a bit far from Phoebe, doesn't it?" Joe pondered aloud. "F.E.B" Phoebe improved on him.

"Faith E. Brown?" Joe looked at her. "What does the E stand for?" Phoebe laughed out. "I'm not going to tell you. And don't bother asking anyone here. I doubt anyone knows that"

"Surely your mother knows. Maybe I should ask her" Joe joked. "Are you really going to volunteer to have another conversation with her?" Phoebe gave him a questioning look.

Laughing, Joe stopped. "Honestly, no. After she insulted you as a slut, I'm not sure I dare face her again without you. Somehow I have a feeling she might breathe fire."

Phoebe laughed out loud and stood in front of Joe, wrapping her arms around him. "Thanks for being there. You make everything a little more bearable" she smiled at him.

"so to be honest, I have a lot of respect for you, the way you're going through this conversation here. I'm just standing by silently while your relatives try to take you down. You're really holding your own" Joe admitted smiling slightly.

Phoebe giggled. "Joe Burrow, are you a little turned on by an independent woman standing up for herself?" she winked at him.

"Oh definitely and no matter what your mom says, that dress looks perfect on you. It triggers some thoughts in me" Joe smirked.

"oh, is someone horny and can't hold back?" Phoebe's grin turned to a smirk. "Can you blame me?" Joe tugged at the fabric of her dress and adjusted it at her cleavage.

Laughing, Phoebe broke away from him and held out her hand. "Come on. Let's see what we can do about this" she winked at him while a dirty grin spread on her lips.

Psst, the next chapter will include some smut🤫🤫

It's still weird not to see the bengals play this week, can't wait for the game against the Steelers!!!

WHO-DEY🧡