Give and Take - Joe Burrow AU

Chapter 3

"Hey, so we were just talking ... since Joe and Ja'Marr are just looking to spend the off season in LA, I offered they just stay here." AJ shrugs looking to you as if asking permission.

You were speechless for a moment, thinking about being in such close proximity. Not even because you just met them - your house had basically become a hotel for your brother and best friend's late night hookups - but for the simple fact that you think you have a crush.

How weird could it get? You think, nodding to your brother and Joe.

"Y-Yeah that's fine." You quickly say.

"Word." AJ smiles and resumes eating his breakfast.

"Thank you guys, seriously. You really don't have to do this for us." Joe says, looking between you and your brother.

"N-No, its our pleasure. We're all friends." You say, giving him a close-mouthed smile. You and Joe hold eye contact for a moment, almost as if trying to read one another's expressions.

"Welp, I'm gonna go shower." You state, once again trying to escape an awkward situation.

"We have some recording to do today," you direct towards your brother. Quickly getting up from you chair you think, what is wrong with you? Shaking your head as you ascend the stairs. He must think you're so weird.

The self deprecation continued all throughout your morning routine, and as time passed, you realized that not only was that nagging feeling in your body exhausting, but you truly were tired from not sleeping the night before.

You had a deadline coming up for the release of your new album. The label had been checking in non-stop to make sure you were being productive - which you were - but not at the pace they would've liked.

After combing through your wet hair, you hear AJ call up to you from the bottom of the stairs.

"Ann! I brought all our shit down here because of the good acoustics, remember?"

"Yeah, OK. I'll be right down." You reply.

Even though you had spent thousands of dollars on a state-of-the-art home recording studio, you found that recording your vocals in the kitchen sounded much better. Of course, the studio was still put to use, but you both found yourselves set up on the kitchen island more often than not.

When you descend the stairs, you could see everyone sitting around the island waiting for your arrival. An audience was nothing new to you, but when you were performing the song finished, not during the creative process.

Having your friends Tana and Nick listen in was one thing, but now Joe and Ja'Marr sat patiently as well, which churned your stomach with anxiety.

"Jeez, we got a full house." You jokingly say, laughing awkwardly.

"They wanna see how the sausage is made." AJ jokes, garnering laughter to erupt from the table. You laughed along to play it cool, but you knew this was going to be difficult. Your songs were personal to you and it was important to you to have a safe space where you could criticize yourself, cry, goof off and argue with your brother over the sound engineering without people judging.

"All we know is football. I wanna see how y'all make my favorite songs." Ja'Marr says, smiling encouragingly.

Deep down, you knew everything would be fine, but you totally felt put on the spot.

"Of course, of course." You smile, swallowing your nerves.

For the rest of the afternoon, you recorded a handful of songs, some rap, some R&B and pop that showed off your range. The process became easier as time went by, with the guys offering words of support and cringeworthy synchronized dance moves to the beat of the songs.

Everyone spent the time laughing and having fun, accompanied by your famous obscene lyrics that you became popular for. You didn't know if this impressed Joe or not. Would he think you were sexy for being empowered and aggressive? Or would it be a turnoff that you were so vocal about your sexuality? Nonetheless, a smile never left his face, which you took as a good sign.

After spending some time in the living room watching a raunchy, late-night comedy, Tana suggests you go for a swim.

"Now?" You whine, but everyone else was eager to change and jump in the pool.

Digging through a drawer of bikinis in your bedroom, you debated which one you wanted to wear. Should you be modest or sexy? That was the question. Deciding on sexy, you put on a bright blue, micro bikini. Your brother wouldn't be pleased, but you wanted to show off your body a little bit.

You were the last to emerge from the house, closing the sliding glass door to the patio behind you and seeing everyone splashing in the pool having a chicken fight.

You certainly needed some liquid courage to stop your racing mind from feeling self conscious. So, you grabbed the bottle of vodka from the night before to drink straight up.

Throwing your towel down on one of the sun chairs, Tana turns her attention to you from atop AJ's shoulders.

"Holy shit! You look hot!" She exclaims, causing everyone else to look in your direction. You try not to catch Joe's eye and thankfully the darkness of the night hid the blush that crept up on your cheeks.

You murmur a 'thank you' before taking a swig from the bottle of vodka.

"I just kicked Ja'Marr's ass! Ann come play chicken. You can be Joe's partner!" Tana suggests excitedly.

You set the bottle down and turn to see Ja'Marr fall off Joe's shoulders and swim towards the edge of the pool to pull himself out.

Anxiety struck you once again, but you obliged and eased into the pool.

Great, now my literal vagina is going to be up against this guy's neck.

By the time you reach Joe, and before you can even blink, he's hoisting you up atop his shoulders with such ease that you feel your core clench with arousal.

You just met this guy yesterday, calm down. You remind yourself, hoping to God he did not just feel the reaction he gave you.

"Push her! Push her!" AJ screams as you and Tana interlock fingers trying to throw each other into the pool.

With Joe's tight grip on your shins and a hard shove that you mustered up, you sent Tana flying backwards into the water.

"Yes!" You scream. Joe takes you off his shoulders with a huge smile plastered across his face. You high five and celebrate as Tana spits out water and attempts to clear her eye of chlorine after going under.

It was only after the commotion died down, and people started venturing into the hot tub, that you noticed the muscles on Joe's shirtless body. This was something you could not find on the internet the previous night ... and you had tried.

Before you could get too ahead of yourself, Joe's voice broke you out of your trance. You realize it was only you and him left in the pool and he's asking you about your plans for the next day.

"Oh, I'm not doing anything I don't think." You say.

"Good, I was hoping to take you all out to dinner to say thank you for letting us stay here." He replies.

Hope deflated slightly in you, thinking that maybe he was going to ask you out on a date. But, again, you remind yourself that you and him barely know each other, and he has not shown any interest in you.

"That sounds great." You say with a small smile.

"Do you want to get in the hot tub?" He asks.

Feeling slightly rejected, you shake your head. "No, I think I'm gonna head up to bed. I didn't get much sleep last night."

His brow slightly furrows and for as second, you think he looks disappointed.

"Joeyyyyyyyyyy!" Tana calls from afar. "Come sit next to me!"

Looking at each other once more, he nods quickly. "Yeah, yeah, of course. Sleep well."

With that, you hoist yourself out of the pool and gather your things. Watching Joe get into the hot tub next to Tana caused a wave of jealousy to come over you, but you needed to stop yourself from getting into something that could hurt you again.