beautiful mistake - joe burrow

16

"Simmons?" Paul stopped Elle as she was about to leave the room to go to her workout with Joe. Questioning, she turned and looked at Paul. "I just wanted to let you know that Zac is coming over today to just see how things are going with Burrow. Just don't let it distract you, okay?" Elle nodded, smiled gratefully at Paul, and left the room.

"well, how was yesterday?" she winced in shock as Michael leaned against the wall outside and spoke to her. "Yesterday...good, really good. Yeah, good game, nice people. Was really worth the trade" she replied shortly and was about to pass him, but instead of staying put, Michael followed her, didn't need long to catch up and ran up beside her.

"I'm happy for you. I can spend all day tomorrow at home for this, so we both win" he kept talking. "Looks that way, doesn't it?" Elle tried to smile politely, but the situation just made her uncomfortable.

"Is there actually something going on? I feel like you've been kind of weird with me lately" Michael asked sighing and Elle squinted her eyes in shock before shaking her head.

"No, I'm fine. Just stressed and tired. You know how the week is, long and never ending" she mumbled and was very glad she had arrived at the door to the training room. "So, I'll see you around" she smiled quickly at him and slipped into the door.

"Hey, everything good?" Joe asked in surprise as Elle leaned against the door, sighing. She startled up. "oh, just don't ask" she replied sighing and setting her backpack down on the floor.

"We need to shine today Joe. Zac is coming over later to see how it's going" she reported to him as she skimmed the schedule for today. "Do you think you're ready to get back into training Wednesday?" she asked him. Joe nodded. "I guess so" he shrugged.

They were just getting to the leg press when there was a knock on the door. "Just get in" Elle called out as Joe pushed off the weights. Zac entered with a grin. "Hey, good to see you" Elle smiled at him. "First time we've seen each other and it has something to do with work" Zac replied smiling as he walked up to Elle and hugged her.

"Hey Coach" Joe high-fived at Zac as he turned to him. "Well Joe, how's it going? Is she too hard on you?" he pointed at Elle who laughed. "No, she's very good at her job" Joe replied, not knowing himself why it bothered him so much that Elle was giggling over a joke Zac was making.

"Didn't expect anything else" Zac winked at Elle, which made her grin big. Again Joe realized he didn't like that at all. "Don't let me bother you though, I just want to observe a bit and get Elle's opinion, ok?" he looked questioningly at Joe, who nodded.

As a final exercise, Elle sent Joe out on the exercise bike for ten minutes. While he pedaled strenuously for the time, Zac and Elle watched him and giggled, which bothered Joe extremely. Until now, he had always been the one to make Elle laugh, but he wasn't jealous of Zac, was he?

"All right, Joe, that's it. I've got a few things to clear up with Zac, so I'll see you again somehow?" Elle asked, noting a few things in the file before smiling at Joe. "I guess" Joe mumbled a little offended to be kicked out of the room so easily. he said goodbye to Elle and Zac, grabbed his stuff and left the room.

"Wohooo, why that face on? So bad that the training with Simmons was the last one?" Ja'Marr asked with a grin as he joined Joe at the table in the cafeteria. "Just don't, okay? Not in the mood" Joe replied annoyed.

"What happened? She didn't approve you for training next week?" Ja'Marr asked confused. "I don't know honestly, Zac came over and they both totally ignored me and whispered the whole time I had to do the exercises. At the end Elle literally kicked me out of the room because she had to clear something up with Zac."

Ja'Marr had to suppress a grin. "Yesterday you don't even admit you have a crush on her and today you're doing a whole jealousy thing, bro?" he asked. "I was just feeling left out and I want to know if I'm safe for next week" Joe rolled his eyes.

"We'll probably find out in a minute. Zac just got here and looks like he's coming our way" Ja'Marr mumbled.

"Joe, sorry for kicking you out, I just wanted Elle's honest opinion. Can I join you guys?" Zac asked as he stood at the boys' table. Joe nodded and looked at Zac questioningly. "So, am I starting next week?" he asked curiously.

"Elle is pretty confident, but she doesn't get to determine that, since Nick, as Director of Rehabilitation, has to ultimately approve. That's why I arranged for you to have another training session with Nick on Monday so he can give his ok" Zac explained. "Will Elle be there too?" Zac shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know" he replied.

"Hey Coach, Simmons had mentioned that she knew you before she was here. How, may I ask?" Ja'Marr asked, trying to mask Joe's disappointment.

"Elle's dad was my college coach. Coach Simmons was one of the best and inspired me a lot. Elle was 9 or 10 at the time and was at our games a lot on the weekends. She was a very sweet girl, we players always found it amusing when she was there. She told everyone back then that she wanted to be a football player and be the first girl to play in the NFL" Zac laughed.

"Well, she made it to the sidelines. But Joe, then you'll have some real competition when you play against her. I mean, it seems like she grew up on the field" Ja'Marr nudged Joe with a grin.

"Play against her?" Zac asked in wonder. "yeah, Elle told me about how she always wanted to play instead of being a cheerleader, so I got her to agree to play against me" Joe explained. "Oh, she's going to kick your butt, Joe. She's really not bad and has a good understanding of tactics" Zac grinned.

"Anyway when I got hired here as head coach I contacted Elle's dad hoping he could give me some tips and a little support. When we first met, he told me that Elle was a student here at Cincinnati and it looked like she was going in the athletic trainer direction" Zac further explained.

"It was a real shock when she first came with to one of our meetings and this sweet little girl with dreams of becoming a football player was suddenly standing in front of me as an adult, educated woman with opportunities to really change the world. Suddenly she wasn't talking about her last tooth that fell out but about sports injuries and the best ways to treat them. Well, then when she had some problems, her dad asked me to look after her, so I took on a bit of a big brother role for her"

"so you guys are close?" Ja'Marr asked. "Yes, I think we are very close, but on a sibling level, you know what I mean?" Ja'Marr and Joe nodded.

"Really cool, coach. Really cool. Was a good idea to hire her here" Ja'Marr grinned. "Yeah, I know. She's doing a good job. Everyone is very happy with her, but I didn't expect anything different" Zac replied.

Thank you so much for almost 7k reads
Don't have a question today, I'm stressed, sorry ☹️
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