path of heal - j.b.

23

"Is everything okay with Joe?" Sam pulled her aside briefly as Elle was about to head onto the dance floor with Liz. Tee had already gone ahead with JaMarr and Tabia, and Elle had assured him she would follow shortly to wingwoman for him.

Liz had kindly agreed to help Elle. Elle felt she had pretty good intuition about people, and maybe it would be more fun to decipher all these girls together rather than alone.

"Yeah, he just had a little bout of jealousy and needed to mark his territory for a moment," Elle explained as Sam looked at her, confused. "Little? Elle, he was all over you for over three minutes, and I was about to intervene because I felt like you were about to run out of air. What's going on?" Sam asked.

Elle waved it off. "Oh, he doesn't trust Kit, the bartender, and he doesn't like the way he looks at me. You really don't need to worry," she explained. "Joe Burrow? The calm and collected Joe is jealous? Elle, if he's reacting like this, you really should be careful around Kit," Sam still seemed a bit concerned.

"Don't worry, I will be. Maybe you can calm down your best friend a bit while I whisk away your pretty girlfriend," she patted Sam's shoulder with a smile before heading towards Liz, who was waiting a few meters away. She linked arms with her newfound friend, and the two girls made their way to the dance floor.

Hardly had they arrived at Tee's side when a large group of girls crowded around them. Apparently, word had spread quickly that one had to go through Elle to get to the guys, and many girls now wanted to impress her.

Liz gave the large group surrounding them a skeptical look. "All these women are crowding around just for the chance that you give them the green light for Tee?" she asked overwhelmed, while Elle tried not to feel overwhelmed herself and instructed the girls to behave more civilized.

"And you lucked out with Sam just walking into your coffee shop, huh? God really does have his favorites," Elle replied with a grin, making Liz laugh. "Says the woman who gets to boss around these men daily. You could have seriously been the Bachelorette to see who offers you the most," she retorted.

"Believe me, I didn't even have the chance. Not even a week in, everyone kept their hands off me because the rumor went around that Joe had a thing for me. They didn't dare flirt with me. Well, except Ja'Marr," Elle laughed.

"Well, he seems to show quite often that he doesn't share what's his," Liz smirked, referring to Joe's earlier make-out session. Elle rolled her eyes. "Men, huh?" she grinned.

They turned back to the large group of girls impatiently waiting behind them, and Elle mentally prepared herself to drain her social battery for the next hour.

"Hey," she smiled at the girl closest to her. "Hey. I heard you hook girls up with players in this club. Do you do this every week, so is there someone new every week, and can I know who's up next? So I know when it's worth coming here," the girl grinned at her.

All the features slipped from Elle's face, and Liz beside her stared at the girl in front of them in disbelief. "Girl, we're not Cupid. We're not a matchmaking agency. Tee asked me to be his wingwoman. That's it," Elle replied.

"Alright, okay. then Tee it is. Tee, like the drink? Is he British? Because that would be hot," she mumbled. "Tee, like the guy standing over there," she pointed to Tee, who was standing on the side with another girl, looking like the conversation was going just as well as this one.

The girl in front of them grimaced. "Is he at least rich?" she asked, almost disgusted. Elle shook her head incredulously. "We're done here," she said and pulled Liz away with her.

For over an hour, Liz and Elle had conversations with girls and were astonished to find that the gold digger count had significantly increased compared to last week. Apparently, Tee also had no success with the girls who spoke directly to him, and even Ja'Marr and Tabia, who had briefly helped, couldn't find anyone.

Liz and Elle had just finished another conversation, which had been apparent from the first few seconds that the girl was more interested in using Tee as an accessory for her Instagram pictures, when two arms wrapped around Elle's waist from behind.

For a moment, she held her breath. If that was Kit, the biggest chaos was about to break loose here, and Joe would probably be furious. But relief washed over her as a head rested on her shoulder, and she recognized the blonde hair and the beloved scent of Joe's cologne.

"I think you've had enough trouble with other girls," he whispered in her ear, planting a kiss on her neck. "It was clear from a distance that it was giving you a headache," he added.

Grinning, Elle turned around and placed her hands on his neck. "And so you left your protected, quiet area just to get me out of here?" she looked at him, amused. Joe nodded, grinning. "My savior," Elle pressed a kiss to his lips before laughing and resting her forehead against his chest.

"Also, Sam and I talked a bit, and he convinced me that I can't ruin your evening just because I don't quite like Kit. I know you were looking forward to going out with all of us, and I'm sorry if I played the killjoy," he added, planting kisses on her neck.

Elle giggled. "Maybe Sam should talk to you more often. Sounds like he's very convincing," she tilted her head to the side a bit more so Joe could reach her neck better, but then released a hand from his neck and pushed his head up to look at her.

"Joe, I'm glad you're here tonight, even if you don't quite like it all. I appreciate you doing this for me," she explained, running a finger over his lips. "But you know there are cameras everywhere here, and everything we do here will be on Twitter and in all the newspapers tomorrow," she added, questioning.

Joe laughed. "Of course, I know that, Elle. But honestly, I don't care right now. I mean, it's been a few months since the Super Bowl, and we can give them some material to post again, right?" he winked at her.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the headline tomorrow. Elle Simmons and Joe Burrow - the hottest couple in the sports world," he whispered in her ear. Elle laughed. "Do you really think they'll write that?" she asked.

"Of course. Anything else would be a huge insult," he smirked. "But we better hurry up a bit. They're almost stealing the show," he nodded to their side, where Sam and Liz were tightly wrapped around each other, making out.

WHO DEY🧡