beautiful mistake - joe burrow

20

As the bar closed at a little after two, the gathering of players dispersed. Elle said goodbye to Gracie, Morgan and Kayla with a hug and wished the other players a good night, too, before waiting for Joe and Ja'Marr to head home.

But a short time later, Joe approached her alone, flipping his keys in his hand. "We can go" he announced and crossed the street. confused, Elle followed him. "What about Ja'Marr?" "He's still going to Sam's to end the night there" Joe explained as he opened his car.

"And you don't want to go with them? I can order a cab" Joe shook his head. "I want to go home and get some sleep" he explained and got in the car. Elle shrugged her shoulders. Well then, she would drive home alone with Joe.

"Did you catch that some people thought I was your new girlfriend tonight?" Elle asked as they drove through the street lit by streetlights and billboards. Joe gave her a grinning look. "Really? You didn't say that wasn't true, did you? It sure would be too funny to see how long it takes them to catch on that you work for us as an athletic trainer"

"Sorry, I've enlightened a few people, besides, most of the players do know that I'm the athletic trainer, since there seems to be quite a bit of talk about me in the locker room from what I've overheard" Elle laughed. "In my defense, most of the time I'm not the one bringing you up as a topic in the locker room"

"As long as you guys only talk good about me, I don't really care" Elle shrugged. Joe laughed. "Of course we only talk good things about you. There's nothing bad to say and everyone who's had anything to do with you so far is totally thrilled with you" Elle smiled proudly. "Thank you, that really means a lot to me"

Turning into her street, Elle started digging in her bag for her keys, but no matter how many times she scanned all the items in her bag, she couldn't find them. Confused, she began to unpack the items inside. Her purse, her emergency bag of medication and tampons, mascara, a disinfectant, several masks, power bank and charging cable, tissues, pens, three lip balms....everything but her keys.

Joe, who by now had parked in front of her apartment building, looked on in surprise as Elle gradually pulled more and more stuff out of the small bag. "Tell me, was that all in there?" he asked in amazement. Elle nodded as she continued to search through her bag, sighing as she rested her head against the headrest.

"I forgot my keys" she groaned and felt through her entire bag again, to no avail. "Oh shit, do you have a spare key somewhere?" Joe asked as Elle put everything back in her bag.

"Well, my neighbor has my spare key, since the keys that get hidden under floor mats or wherever get stolen a lot in our house. But the woman is over 80 and if I ring her doorbell at this hour, she'll probably have a heart attack" Elle sighed in exasperation.

"do you have anyone else you can go to? Relatives, friends?" Joe asked. Elle considered. "I could call my best friend" she fumbled for her cell phone. "Is she still awake at this hour?" Elle shook her head. "She has to hold the news at eight in the morning, that means she'll be asleep now, but it doesn't matter. She always has me on loud."

She dialed Celine's number and was about to press the green button when Joe stopped her. "You don't have to ring your best friend awake. You can sleep over at my place" he suggested.

"oh...that's sweet. But I don't want to be any trouble" she smiled gratefully at him. "I'm sure you'll put your best friend to more trouble if you ring her out of bed. I don't have a problem with that, Elle. My house is big enough, that's where I'm going anyway, and I'm awake too"

Elle sighed. "It really wouldn't be a problem for you?" she asked uncertainly. "Absolutely not" Joe smiled at her. "Ok, fine" Elle nodded. "Well then, next stop, my house" Joe smiled and started the engine.