Mia's POV
I shiver slightly as I walk to the stadium for work. I notice snow flurries beginning to fall as I walk through the parking lot. By the beginning of November, snow usually starts falling. Sometimes it'll lay and sometimes it doesn't.
Normally, Joe and I drive to work together, but the coach wanted the team there early today. After Joe proposed to me, Kara and I moved in with him and I sold my apartment. He lives in Cincinnati too so I didn't have to worry about Kara needing to transfer schools.
I show my I.D. to the security guard and he lets me through. I walk onto the field as the snow starts to pick up. Joe sees me and he jogs over to me.
"Hi Mia. We're just finishing up. Are you on practice duty today?" He asks. I shrug.
"I'm not sure. I just got here. I'm kind of hoping that I'm not out here for today. It's cold," I say, shivering. Joe wraps his arms around me and I feel immediate warmth.
"Well, if you are out here today, my coat is in the locker room." Joe says. I nod.
"Thanks Joey. That's sweet of you. I've gotta go now, but I'll see you later." I say as I give Joe a kiss on the lips.
"Okay. See you later, Mia."
I go up to my office and find that I am on practice duty. I shiver just thinking about going back outside, but I know that I can retrieve Joe's winter coat from the locker room.
I go down to the Bengals locker room and grab Joe's coat out of his locker. I put on a Bengals beanie and pull the winter gloves out of my coat so I can put them on too.
I pull on Joe's coat over top of mine and get ready to go outside. I go outside and shiver slightly. I'm pretty warm, but the snow stinging my face shocks me at first.
I walk to the bench and sit down to watch the team practice. Joe is doing some drills with Ja'Marr and he throws the football to him using a no look throw. Ja'Marr catches it and cheers.
Joe waves to me and I wave back to him. I notice one of our photographers walk over to Joe and start talking to him. It's one of our woman photographers and I feel a bit jealous as he laughs and talks with her.
The photographer starts taking photos of Joe and he seems to be really enjoying himself. After watching the photographer take like fifty pictures of Joe doing the same pose over and over again, I start to walk over to them.
When I walk over to them, the photographer looks a little annoyed.
"I'm trying to take photos and you're ruining it," she snaps. I roll my eyes.
"Relax, camera girl, I'm Joe's fiancé. Oh, and his athletic trainer." I say. The woman makes a face at me.
"Whatever. I'm supposed to take photos of Joe Burrow. Not his fiancé," she says. Before I can snap back, Joe stops me.
"Mia, it's fine. They just need me. We'll get plenty of photos of us together some other time, alright?" He says, placing his hand in mine. I sigh.
"Alright. I'll go back to watching practice then, I guess." I mutter. Joe nods.
"Okay. Stay warm,"
"I will," I say as I walk away.
I'm not sure how to interpret Joe's words. Did he want to get rid of me? I doubt it, but I never know.
The one thing I hate about the photographers here is that they never want photos of Joe and I. All they want is Joe because they know how many girls are in love with him. Joe doesn't usually argue with them about it either which annoys me somewhat.
I sit on the bench in a huff and cross my arms over my chest. Ja'Marr jogs over to me and notices my anger.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine," I answer in annoyance. Ja'Marr frowns.
"Are you sure? Because you look like you're ready to kill Joe," he says. I sigh.
"You know me too well, Ja'Marr." I say. Ja'Marr shrugs. I laugh and then regain my seriousness. "I don't understand why Joe never defends me when it comes to getting photos of us together. I mean, doesn't he want people to know that we're together? He shouldn't pretend that he's single just to impress all the fan girls who are in love with him,"
"I don't think he's pretending to be single. He's just trying to give the public what they want, I guess." Ja'Marr replies. I frown.
"But why? Plus, he hasn't been hanging out with Kara as much lately. He won't help with her homework when she needs it and he always seems distracted. I don't know what going on. Could you ask him about it for me?" I ask, giving a pleading look to Ja'Marr. Ja'Marr looks at me and nods.
"Sure. I'll talk to him for you,"
"Thanks, Ja'Marr, I really appreciate it," I say. Ja'Marr shrugs.
"It's what friends are for,"
Joe's POV
After practice, I go to the locker room and change out of my gear. Ja'Marr walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, man, is everything alright?" He asks. I frown.
"Yeah. Everything's great. Why?" I say. Ja'Marr sighs.
"Well, Mia was worried about you. She said that you seem distracted and you don't pay much attention to her sister Kara. Kara needs math help, you know." Ja'Marr explains.
"I understand that Kara needs math help, but it's the middle of the football season. I need to focus on the team and getting to the Super Bowl," I reply. Ja'Marr frowns.
"When did winning as many games as possible and being in the Super Bowl matter so much to you? Don't Mia and Kara matter too?" He asks. I nod.
"Sure, they matter. But, right now, my career is important." I reply. Ja'Marr nods, looking skeptical about what I said. I frown.
"What? What did I say?"
"Nothing," Ja'Marr replies as he walks away.
I feel like Ja'Marr is lying, but I don't question it.
Mia's POV
"He really said that?" I ask, my eyes wide. Ja'Marr nods.
"Yep. He said that his career is important right now," he says. I shake my head and place my head in my hands.
"What should I do? It seemed like the last month or two he's been a bit self absorbed, but I didn't think he would go as far as to say that his career is more important than Kara and I." I explain. Ja'Marr shrugs.
"I don't know. I say confront him about it and, depending on what he says, you make the decision that you think is best for you and him alike." He says. I nod.
"Okay. I know that the Joe I fell in love with still exists. I mean, he still shows that he exists sometimes. It's just that it's not the same. I mean, Joe hugged me and was keeping me warm when I got here, but after that, he was kind of stand offish and cared more about football than me." I explain, shaking my head.
"Well, like I said, make the decision that you think is best for the two of you. That's all I can say," Ja'Marr says. Ja'Marr looks at me and gives me a sad smile. I sigh.
"You're right. Thanks Ja'Marr. You're a real friend,"
Ja'Marr leaves my office and I sit at my desk, wondering how I'm going to approach having this conversation with Joe.
No matter what I say to him, I have a feeling that it's not going to end too well.
YOU ARE READING
Iced Over || Joe Burrow
Fanfiction[Book Two in the Cold as Ice series] After Joe proposed to Mia at the Super Bowl, the time ticks down to the day that they say I do. Mia and Joe plan to get married in March after the coming football season is over. It seems far away, but it gives t...
