beautiful mistake - joe burrow

110

"Oh, there you are." Nick grinned at Elle in amusement as she made her way to the bus the next afternoon. It would go to the airport and back to Cincinnati.

"Didn't know I was needed. Why didn't you write me?" Elle tried to smile despite a pounding head and her sensitivity to light, despite sunglasses, which made her head feel even heavier.

"It wasn't that urgent. Wanted to have breakfast with you this morning, but you didn't open" Nick grinned at her, knowing full well that Elle hadn't spent the night in her room at all.

When Kid Cudi had finished his set, music had been playing over the speakers and Elle had been having a great time with the other girls. She had no idea how many bottles of champagne they had ended up drinking together, but everyone was in good spirits.

Joes and her parents had said goodbye at some point, leaving the party to the young ones. As she had done on team night, the night Joe and she had first kissed, Elle had performed "it wasn't me" with the boys, among other songs.

It had been almost four o'clock in the morning when Joe and Elle had said goodbye to the group. The mixture of alcohol and the events of the evening had led the two to the conclusion that surely no one would care if Elle spent the night at Joe's.

The two of them hadn't woken up until one o'clock today, naked, after both of them had fallen asleep immediately after sex yesterday from sheer exhaustion. Elle had quickly jumped in the shower while Joe had ordered food from room service.

Afterwards, they had cuddled in bed before Elle had gone back to her room to pack her things before it was time to leave for the airport.

Nick had seen right through her, but Elle wasn't about to let him have the triumph so easily, which was why she shrugged innocently. "Was probably still asleep" it wasn't even entirely a lie. There was a good chance that she had still been asleep at the time Nick wanted to take her to breakfast. But just not in her room.

Nick's smirk grew even bigger. "Oh, I thought so too, that's why I went back before lunch. That was about a little after two" he announced.

"That was about the time I was in the shower" Elle shrugged again. Nick laughed out loud. "Just not in your room, right?" he winked at her.

Elle couldn't help but grin. "Maybe."

"Well, theoretically it's been off season since last night, so it's not off limits either" Nick winked at her again before getting on the bus.

Elle slept through the entire flight back and was only awakened by Nick when they were on final approach to Cincinnati. Completely out of it, since it was dark outside by now and it took Elle a few moments to even realize where she was, she staggered off the plane and onto the bus that was already waiting for her.

Goosebumps spread over her body as they approached Paul Brown Stadium. Spread out along the sides of the street, masses of fans, all dressed in orange black, stood cheering the buses as they drove through the gates and onto the facility grounds.

The fans were still cheering when she drove the car off the grounds again just a few minutes later.

She drove straight to Joe, who had left just before her and had already ordered food at home when Elle arrived. They both cleaned up their bags and suitcases, and Elle was just shuffling the first clothes into the washing machine when their food arrived.

They made themselves comfortable on the couch with the TV on in the background while they hungrily ate their food. When they finished, they cleaned up before snuggling together on the couch.

"Has Leila called in yet?" Joe inquired. Both had been aware that their make-out session on stage yesterday would definitely get the rumor mill going and the press would be greedy over the news, which was why Elle had sent Leila a text yesterday to prepare her.

"She just sent me a lot of links to articles. And that there were a lot of requests for interviews and statements. Also, brands have already contacted her asking if the two of us could shoot a commercial together for them" Elle summarized the countless messages she had received from Leila throughout the day.

"Wow, I thought it would be quite something, but advertising deals?" Joe laughed, amused. "But I'm interested in the articles. Shall we look at a few?" he grinned at Elle.

Immediately she pulled out her phone and scrolled up to the articles. "Now I like this one pretty good" Joe pressed on a link of the article that had the headline "New NFL Power Couple!".

He took the phone from Elle's hand and began reading the article aloud. "No one would have expected this after the Super Bowl loss. Quite publicly and undisturbed, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Athletic Trainer Elle Simmons made out on stage last night at the Cincinnati Bengals after show party. There had already been isolated signs since last week that a relationship had been growing between the two, but no one probably expected this level of public affection. It was revealed some time ago that Simmons, who had made a name for herself through a viral video and is now fighting for more women in the NFL with her "the future is female" campaign, was partly responsible for the rebuilding of Burrow, 2020's first-over all draft pick, who missed most of his first season in the NFL due to a knee injury. Had there been some sparks between the two during the recovery? We are waiting for an official statement from the two lovers, but it is already certain. Together, they're going to shake up the NFL quite a bit as a power couple."

Elle grinned. "Power Couple, I like it" she pressed a kiss to Joe's cheek while taking her phone from his hand. "Well I think they're right. We are a Power Couple" Joe replied with a smirk.

"So honestly, this was my favorite article" Elle searched for a moment until she held out an article to Joe. "Despite Super Bowl loss, Joe Burrow beams at after show party - she's the reason" he read aloud.

"I'm the reason" Elle grinned as Joe laughed out loud. "You're the reason" he agreed and pulled her close before spreading kisses all over her face, causing Elle to squeal with giggles and Joe couldn't stop laughing from the sweet chuckles Elle was giving off.

When they had calmed down again, they looked at a few more articles, but in themselves, the same thing was written everywhere. That there were individual rumors before. That no one had expected them to show themselves so publicly. That Elle was part of Joe's recovery training and that they were waiting for a statement.

Only one article was different. The headline "fling or relationship? Joe Burrow makes out with Elle Simmons on stage" was the only article that considered that the make-out session between the two might have been a one-time thing and even assumed that the Super Bowl loss had led to the two of them "consoling" each other like that.

They had just decided to stop when Elle's cell phone rang. Nick.

"I should probably take this" Elle stood up. Nick had already announced that he would get back to her to let her know how things were going for the next week.

While the injured players were no longer their responsibility since the season was officially over, they were going to clean up and reorganize their offices and all their rooms so that as soon as the preparation for the new season started, they could get started right away.

Joe, meanwhile, made himself comfortable on the couch and pulled out his cell phone. As he had done so many times the past week, he opened the travel agency's website. Now that the season was over, he wanted to surprise Elle with a vacation.

For once, just the two of them alone, for more than just the night or the few hours. Without the stress of the season, of work. Without having to worry about anything. Away from it all.

He had just saved two hotels when Elle returned. "What did Nick want?" he asked as Elle sat down next to him and immediately snuggled back up to him. "We both have to come to the facility tomorrow. Why didn't he say. He just meant until then we should think about whether we want to make our relationship public now or not" she explained.

What awaits them in the facility?

Hope youre all having an amazing daaaaay

WHO-DEY 🧡