watching you • joe burrow

cotton eyed JOE

no lyrics for this chapter but feel free to play these songs while you listen.

country girl (shake if for me)- luke bryan
cotton eyed joe- rednex
old town road- lil nas x
jolene- dolly parton
picture to burn- taylor swift
or any other country songs you would like

since the bengals got there first win of the year, the costume party was today. the theme was country.

grace and joe were going together in matching country outfits. grace was wearing denim shorts with a bodysuit and an orange flannel. joe was wearing jeans with a shirt and an orange flannel as well.

they both were wearing cowboy boots and belts just for the "country" style. and cowboys hats.

the party was around 8 and it was currently 6:30. they had to leave joe's house around 7:30 if they wanted to be there on time.

"hey grace," joe said joining grace in the kitchen to eat a peanut butter and jelly before they left.

"yeah?" grace asked looking up from making her sandwich and back down again.

"do you want to move in with me? like officially? you practically already do." joe asked, rather nervously.

it was true, grace did practically live at joe's house. she has a lot of her stuff there but she still has some things left at her apartment.

"yeah," grace said with a smile. "i would love too."

"okay, well maybe during the bye or something i can help you bring all your stuff here." joe said.

grace smiled to herself as she ate her sandwich, she started thinking about before her and joe started dating and how she was so grateful for everyone who told her to go for it.

but she couldn't help but think why c.j. told her to go for it if he liked her this whole time?

did c.j. have anything to do with matthew and sarah? there's no way, right?

__________________________________

they arrived to the party around 8, it wasn't super busy yet but some people she recognized were there. jamar and katie, evan, brandon, trey, sam, and one of the new guys, mike hilton.

grace and katie have hung out a lot since the first time they met, which wasn't under the best circumstances.

"gracie! good to see you." katie said giving her best friend a hug.

"you too, katie." grace said with a smile as she hugged her back.

"nice to see you, grace." brandon said with a soft smile.

"you too." grace said with a smile. "how have you been?"

"good, busy with practice and stuff but good. what about you?" brandon asked grace."

"uh," grace said with a chuckle knowing how the past couple of months have been for her. "ok, considering the circumstances."

"that's good, i'm gonna go find joe." brandon said as he excused himself.

grace spotted trey, sam, and mike. she decided to go talk to them.

"sam, trey! good to see you guys." grace said as she hugged both of the guys at the same time.

"you too, grace." trey said ruffling grace's hair which she quickly fixed. trey and sam were like older brothers to her.

"this is mike." sam said as she gestured to the short boy next to him. he seemed to have a lot of energy. the type joe would call a good locker room guy.

"i'm grace." grace said as she hugged the boy. he definitely gave off golden retriever energy.

"mike, hilton. i'm a cornerback." he said.

"you?" grace asked.

"shocking, i know. 5"9 and 180 and i'm a cornerback." mike said.

"i didn't mean it in a bad way, it's just shocking you know?" grace said with a chuckle.

"all good, grace." mike says with a wave of his hand and a smile.

country girl (shake it for me) started playing. jamar and joe mixon eyes immediately scanned the room for grace's considering the inside joe they had with this song. joe's eyes immediately go wide while he is having a conversation with brandon.

grace, jamar, and joe mixon rushed over to to joe. grace grabbed his arm and pulled him on the dance floor.

"i'm not doing this." joe said with a smile as he shook his head.

"yes you are. i know you know the boot scoot." grace said.

they waited for the beat and started doing the boot scoot to the song. some other people at the party started joining them. katie, jamar, joe, evan, sam, trey, and some other players and their girlfriends started boot scooting on the dance floor.

after the song ended, joe playfully bowed as grace clapped for him.

cotton eyed joe played and everyone started dancing to it, more people knew the cotton eyed joe.

"another song!" joe said out of breath. "i don't know if i can do it."

"oh come on country boy." grace said as she started doing the dance. joe sighed and started dancing as well.

after cotton eyed joe, joe tapped out. along with some of the other guys on the team, most of them actually. they play football, where is their stamina?

picture to burn by taylor swift started playing and all the girls started singing, well brandon joined in to.

brandon didn't come across and the taylor swift toe but grace wasn't complaining. all of the players were watching is amusement as their girlfriends and wives were screaming the lyrics together.

"so watch me strike a match on all my wasted time." brandon sang out with everyone. "as far as i'm concerned, you're just another picture to burn."

most people were laughing not necessarily at but not with brandon but he didn't take any of it personally, who would expect him to listen to taylor swift anyways?

grace doesn't drink, she hasn't since her mom accident but considering it was around 10, people had a little bit to drink.

she wasn't paying attention but she didn't know how many joe had, hopefully not a lot because he drove them there.

her and joe danced around to jolene a little bit and she could tell by the smell of his breath that he had been drinking.

"are you ok to drive home?" grace asked joe.

"you ready to go?" joe asked.

"no, i'm just wondering if you've had too much. i just don't want you driving if you've had too much." grace said.

"i've had 3, i'm good right now." joe said.

"i'm just gonna have my dad pick me up." grace said.

"uh, he's right there." joe said looking to the direction of her very intoxicated father.

"nevermind then." grace said with a chuckle.

"i'm good, grace i promise." joe said.

"no it's fine, i'll drive." grace said.

"okay, let me know when you are ready to go." joe said mindlessly.