#tigergirls

I had managed to fall asleep for almost the whole flight to Ohio. It was about 12-o-clock-ish at night when we touched down in Cincinnati. After we landed safely and the plane got checked off, we could be able to get out of the plane and head into the actual airport. Once they gave us the thumbs up that we could go, I immediately grabbed my carry on bag and headed for the tunnel to the airport. I texted my parents to tell them I had landed, to which I got a quick response that they would be over there in a little bit to pick me up. I was so excited to see them, it had been over a month or two since I last saw them.

When I got back into the airport, I made my way to the baggage claim and waited on my bags to make their way around the belt. As I watched other peoples bags go around and around, I couldn’t help but think about how long the baggage claim goes. It travels in that same pattern with almost no stops. It does the same thing every day and doesn’t get tired. Does it ever get tired? Yes, I know the baggage claim isn’t a human but when humans do the same thing over and over again - they get tired of it, so why can’t intimate objects get tired? As a college freshman, I get burnout from classes sometimes, even though I have only been at LSU for about 4 months. 

The more I think about it, I do almost the same thing everyday to. I get up, get ready for the day, go to my classes, eat, go to dance practice, then come back to my dorm to study and go to sleep - so why wasn’t I tired of it yet? Maybe, it’s because college is a new experience and that’s the reason I don’t get tired of doing it over and over again. Yet, it made me wonder about if other people get tired of the things they do over and over again. Does my dad ever get tired from coaching? Does he ever wake up and think, ‘I’m so exhausted from this job, maybe I should call it quits’? Does Joe Burrow ever get tired of playing football? Does he ever want to call it quits? Does everybody that lives in this world get tired of everyday life at least once in their lifetime?

While I had all of these thoughts racing through my mind, one really stood out - Will I ever get tired of what I’m doing every single day?

My thought clustered brain was distracted by my luggage coming into my eyesight. I quickly ran to get the bags before the conveyer belt went any further. After assisting them to the ground, it was time to wait on my parents to get here. I texted mom to tell her I got my luggage and that I was waiting on them. To which I got the response:

Momma

Okay pumpkin, we are a few minutes out! Can’t wait to see you!

I hearted her message and then found some odd corner to stand in until they arrived. To pass time, I checked my text messages and social medias… maybe occasionally looking at a specific quarterbacks instagram.

‘Y/n, you need to stop’ My inner conscious voices were telling me, but I just couldn’t. The way his dirty blonde hair fell against his forehead, the way his eyes were stern yet soft at the same time, and that smile - don’t even get me started. I was completely mesmerized by this boy, and I didn’t even know anything about him besides his name, stats, and jersey number.

After a few more minutes of mindlessly looking at my phone, my mom texted that they had parked and were starting to walk into the airport. My heart started to race, I was actually getting to see them. I started to walk with my bags through the airport, checking each entrance to make sure I hadn’t missed my parents. I texted back to ask which entrance they were coming through, to which mom replied with a simple ‘C’. I was currently at entrance ‘E’ so I continued to make my way through the airport. I left E then continued to D, then I finally reached the C entrance. I looked around to see if I could find my parents when I heard my name being yelled.

“Y/n! Y/n!” I heard my dads loud northern voice boom my name. I turned in the direction of the voice and there they were, my parents in all their glory. Once I laid my eyes on them, I dropped my bags and ran to give them one big bear hug. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t almost welled to tears.

“Dang lil bit, I could use you on my defensive line if you tackle like that” my dad said grunting after I had attacked them with my hug. I laughed at his nonsense and gave them both individual, calmer hugs.

“Oh honey, it’s so great to see you again!” My mom said still hugging me.

“It’s great to see you guys too! I’m glad to be back in cincy” I confessed, truly happy to have some change of scenery.

While I was talking to mom, dad went and grabbed my bags for me.

“Well, I’ve been in the airport long enough, let’s go home” I said excitedly, eager to be in the comfort of our home.

My parents agreed and we made our way out of the airport to dads truck - with my mom and I holding hands the entire time. Dad loaded up my stuff as mom and I hopped into the vehicle. I buckled up and dad got in to start up the truck. It was a bit chilly in Cincinnati, so dad cranked up the heat to warm us up.

When we pulled out of the parking spot and started our way home, conversation overflowed the truck. Questions that pertained to school, dance, and how the flight was. 

“Yeah, Kandace said that she hopes that once I’m finished with college that I try out for an NFL dance team. Something about ‘I have way too much talent to not use it past the tiger girls’” I said answering a question my dad had asked about dance.

“You know honey, after college and if your dad is still coaching - you can always come home and try out for the ben-gals!” My mom turned to look at me from the passenger seat.

I quirked my head. “Like the Bengals dance team?” I asked. Mom shook her head to indicate a ‘yes’ and I pondered on the thought for a second.

“I’ll keep it in consideration. I still have three more years left of the tiger girls so I’ll cross the NFL dance team bridge when it comes. Plus, I feel like people would say stuff, like ‘Oh it’s the football coach’s daughter, they’re automatically going to let her on blah blah blah’” I told mom, being honest as I could because I mean… it is true people do say things like that.

“People are going to talk all your life Y/n, all you can do is let em’. You’ve got a god given talent lil bit - don’t let peoples words stop you from using it.” My dad chimed into our conversation, making sure his point stood out. 

“Also, I’ll be dammed if anybody says anything about you lil bit. Especially the coaches daughter act.” Dad cut back in, I stifle a laugh.

We continued to drive home as my tiredness started to set in. I couldn’t wait to be in my nice, soft bed at home - I know it was calling my name.

Next thing I know, we’re pulling up into our houses driveway. Before the truck was even in park, I quickly undo my seatbelt and get out of the truck. I rush to the other side of the vehicle to grab my bags, to which my parents laughed at my eagerness to get into the house and in the bed.

We walked up to the front of the house and as my parents unlocked the door, I stepped in and just breathed in the nice, home-y air. It felt so good to be back in Cincinnati for the week. I ran up to my room to put my stuff down and start getting ready for bed.

I sat my bags down and grabbed a makeup wipe out of my toiletries bag to take off my makeup. I decided that would be good enough skin care for tonight, since I was dog-tired.

“Y/n, come down here real quick!” My dad yelled. I made my way downstairs to the living room where my parents were standing. I responded with a quick ‘what’s up?’.

“Listen lil bit, I have football practice all week and I was wondering if you’d maybe want to come some of the days? Get to meet the guys maybe? I talk about you a lot and they seem to really want to meet you” My dad says, almost pleading for me to go with him.

I think about it for a minute. Many things could lead out of this. One, I could get to spend more time with my dad AND get to see him do his job. Two, new football guy friends. Finally, three; meeting Joe Burrow. I know, it’s an awful time to be thinking about him - but getting to see and meet him would be a win in my book. Also, dad talks about me a lot? Why would he talk to the guys about me? That means Joe probably already knows everything about me. I’m just praying he didn’t tell any embarrassing stories, like how my first prom went… that would be a disaster.

I looked at my dad and mustered up my answer.

“Yeah, totally! I’ll go!” I said actually kind of excited to go stand on a professional football field other than LSU’s.

Dad starts cheering like the Bengals have won the Super Bowl. 

“Yes! I was hoping you would agree” Dad comes over to hug me. “It’ll be fun lil bit, be ready by seven okay? Now go get some sleep, early wake up call” Dad squeezes me one last time and kisses my cheek before we say our goodnights.

As dad heads to him and moms bedroom, mom grabs my arm.

“Now, I know you’re going to hopefully have a ton of fun tomorrow but honey, please don’t get caught up in any of those football boys. Some of them are bad news” Mom says looking me dead in my eye sympathetically.

“Momma, I am not going to get all caught up in one of them. I have too much to focus on in life right now and a boy would just mess it up.”

“That’s my girl! I just don’t want you to see you get hurt. You know what happened last ti-“ I grimace before mom can even finish her sentence. I didn’t need to think about him, he was the least of my concerns and had been for quite awhile now. 

“Momma, just don’t worry - I won’t get caught up in the boys. I’m just going with dad to have a fun day at their football practice, nothing more” I tried to smile at her, it wasn’t really working.

“Okay honey, I trust you. Let me know if you need anything. Go get some sleep. Goodnight, I love you Y/n” Mom hugs me and I tell her goodnight. When mom walks to the bedroom, I just stared at the ground till I had the will to go back upstairs.

Why did mom always have to bring him up? Every-time I went around any-one of the opposite sex, she always made sure the ‘be careful, don’t get involved in somebody like your ex-boyfriend’ talk happened. Hell, when I moved to LSU she was in shambles about it; thinking I would be dumb enough to be with somebody like him again.

I finally shook myself out of my thoughts and headed upstairs to my room. I finished taking off my makeup, went and brushed my teeth, and finally changed into some comfortable pajamas - which mostly consisted of loose shorts and a too big t-shirt. I plugged in my charger and connected it to my phone, then grabbed anything else I needed for my night stand. I set an alarm for six in the morning, I was only going to be running on about four to five hours of sleep in the morning - but it’s whatever. As I turned onto my side and started to drift to sleep, something caught my mind.

Oh my god, I get to meet Joe Burrow in the morning.

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The minute I heard the alarm go off, I slammed my hand on my phone to turn it off. ‘Why did I agree to get up this early?’ I asked myself. I grabbed my phone and cancelled all the extra alarms I had set, just incase I didn’t wake up for the first one. 

I laid in bed for a few minutes scrolling Instagram and responding to texts Kelsey had sent me - asking if I had gotten to Cincinnati safely and that I wasn’t dead in an alley. I then decided to get out of bed, because if I didn’t now - I never would.

Once doing a nice long stretch, I headed to the bathroom connected to my room. I pulled my hair back and started the shower up, making sure it was hot enough. Once it warmed up to my liking (which was boiling skin off hot), I hopped in and washed the tiredness away.

After washing myself and making myself feel squeaky clean - I got out and dried off. I did my skincare next, brushed my teeth, and put on deodorant. I went back to my room to grab some clothes, which consisted of Lululemon black shorts, my white tennis shoes, and of course - another LSU shirt. What can I say, LSU had taken over my life - and my wardrobe. Once dressed, I took my hair down and styled it, making sure it looked presentable enough to be out on a football field all day. 

I grabbed my makeup bag and did my makeup to where it looked like I hadn’t slept for only four hours last night. After my makeup, I changed out my jewelry - aiming for just simple pearl earrings, an anklet, and my apple watch. 

I slipped on my tennis shoes and grabbed my black puffer jacket, phone, and purse; not forgetting to put on some light chapstick and lipstick before I walked downstairs.

I walked out of my room and down the stairs at 6:50, having ten minutes before dad and I needed to leave.

I walked into the kitchen to see mom and dad having their morning coffee. I said my good-mornings and headed to one of the cabinets to grab a glass for some water. 

“Excuse me Y/n, What are you wearing?” My dad looked at me, waiting for my response.

I looked at him, then down at my outfit - not really seeing anything wrong with it.

“I’m wearing clothes?” I responded, sounding more like a question than an answer.

“Honey, you can’t wear an LSU shirt today! We may love LSU in this household - but you need a bengals shirt for today!” My dad protested, dead set on getting me out of purple and yellow to orange and black.

“I don’t have a bengals shirt da-“ My sentence was cut off by my dads fake gasp.

Next thing I knew, dad was running back into the master bedroom. He came out holding a shirt and throwing it to me. It was one of his Bengals shirts. He urged me to go put it on, so I ran back upstairs.

I changed from my purple shirt to the black one and looked at myself in the mirror. I didn’t look too bad in orange and black, if I do say so myself. I slipped my puffer jacket back on and bopped my way downstairs.

“Much better” My dad said as I walked back into the kitchen.

I simply smiled and put the glass I had taken out earlier back up, going to get a water bottle from the fridge instead.

Dad finally indicated that it was time for us to leave the house, so I gave my mom a hug and told her my good-byes. I grabbed a granola bar on my way out of the kitchen, following behind my dad closely.

“You two be safe!” My mom yelled from the kitchen, to which both dad and I yelled “We will!”. Hmph, I was a little mini him sometimes. Mom always told me it’s like she birthed her own husband every time she talks to me, to which I always responded with ‘Mom, that’s gross!’

Dad and I walked to our sides of the truck and hopped in. I turned to look in the backseat and dad had already loaded up his bags for the practice, he must’ve done that earlier. Him and mom were always early birds, I unfortunately did not inherit that trait.

As dad pulled out of the driveway and got on the road he asked me a question to break the silence.

“Are you excited about coming with me today?” He turned to smile at me, I returned it.

“Yeah, I am. Just a little nervous though, I mean I’ve never met these guys before so it’s a little nerve wracking to be the coaches daughter.” I responded honestly looking out the window at the scenery passing by.

“I know it’s a little unsettling lil bit, but you’ll love the guys. I talk to them about you all the time and they just can’t wait to meet you. It’s like having a bunch of big brothers!” Dad giddily said. ‘Gross’ was the only word I could think of. I was nineteen for gods-sake, I didn’t need for dads whole NFL football team to be referred to as my ‘older brothers’.

I put another smile on my face and mustered up a nice response.

“I guess you’re right. Do they even know what I look like?” I asked, concerned that the guys didn’t know if they were getting to see a nineteen year old or a nine year old.

Dad shook his head to indicate a ‘No’ answer. Great, all the guys probably think I still play with Barbies and play dress-up. 

“But-“ Oh lord, here we go. “I did tell them you were one of the LSU Tiger Girls, so I mean if they wanted to see what you looked like - then they could just look up your team photo” 

Okay, that made it a bit better. At least they know I’m probably not a child; nine year olds don’t necessarily dance on professional college level teams. I nodded my head back at dad and continued to look out the window at Cincinnati.

Within a few minutes we reached the one and only: Paycor Stadium. Dad used his I.D badge to get into the staff only parking lot, pulling into an empty parking space and putting the truck in park.

“Well, this is it lil bit!” Dad said as we hopped out of the truck. I reached into the backset to grab one of dads practice book-bags, just to help lighten his load.

Dad grabbed the rest of his bags and I started follow him. 

Then it hit me… again - just like it did last night in bed.

Oh my god, I get to meet Joe Burrow.

I had almost forgotten about the quarterback, but now that I was within the same place as him - my heart rate picked up. Hoy shit, there is no way I’m about to meet him - and the thing is, I’m only going to be known as the coaches daughter to him. My heart rate was only getting faster the more I thought about it. It felt like a school girl crush, If I’m being honest - and I hadn’t even talked to the guy yet!

“Okay, we’re going to go to the locker room first - all the guys should be here by now, so I’ll make sure to give you a formal introduction” Dad turned to me and said.

We walked down the long hallways of the stadium. These halls never seemed to end, with rooms on both the left and right side, every few feet. 

After what felt like a mile of walking, I started to hear faint music coming from the end of one of the halls. As we got closer, the music grew louder and louder. The sound of Lil Baby music filled my ears. Then, finally we reached the room we were going to: the Bengals Locker Room. 

Dad stopped me before I could walk any further.

“I’m going to go in there and make sure they’re decent okay? I want you to be listening for my cue for you to come in there. I’ll just say something along the lines of ‘here’s my daughter’. Kind of like a big surprise y’know?” Dad said to me. I nodded in response and stepped to the side of the door as dad walked in - leaving it cracked so I could listen for my ‘cue’. I honestly felt like I was a show and tell puppet for my dad at that moment.

When dad walked in, I heard the locker room grow silent as he yelled for the guys to turn off the music, put some shirts on - at least, and gather in front of him.

After a minute or two, dad began to speak in his football coach mode voice.

“Listen guys, I had a very special visitor come in this week. You guys have heard a lot about her from me. She’s come to watch our practice today and see if I can do my job well enough. Before I ask for her to come in here, I know I shouldn’t have to ask this but, please be respectful of her and nice to her - she means a lot to me; and if I hear any of you be slightly disrespectful - I will end your careers with broken limbs” Dad ended in a stern voice, it took everything in me not to laugh at his ridiculous speech.

“Now guys, I’d like to introduce to you, my daughter - Y/n Taylor” I took that as my cue, so I rounded the door to walk in. 

When I turned into the doorway there were immediately at least more than 60+ eyes on me. I threw on a quick smile as I walked towards my dad, trying to not show my nervousness. 

Once I reached my dad, I looked out at the guys and mustered up all the courage I had.

“Hi guys!” I said as cheery as I could be, I honestly kind of sounded stupid.

The reaction was more than heartwarming. All the guys smiled back at me and said their hello’s, starting to mingle around again and come up to talk to me. The first person to come greet me was a guy by the name of, Sam Hubbard. Pretty tall, big dude and he was pretty cute. He talked to me for a little bit before other players jumped in on the conversation.

“Guys! Meet me out on the field at 8:15! That gives you at least twenty more minutes to mingle and meet my daughter, but after that it’s straight to business!” Dad yelled out over the locker room followed by a string of ‘yes sir’s’.

Dad walked out of the room and I’ve never felt more out of place - even though the football players were talking to me like I was an old friend of theirs. I can’t believe he would just leave me in here - but I guess it was just how he was.

I continued talking with a few players including Tee, Sam, Trey, and Samaje. Then, a tall frame came and stood right beside Sam. 

I looked over and my breathing hitched. Joe Burrow. It was actually the quarterback I had obsessed over for the past 24 hours, and he was standing right in front of me.

Joe looked me in the eyes and smiled.

“Hi Y/n, it’s nice to finally meet you - I’m Joe Burrow” Joe said as he outstretched his hand for me to shake. Trust me, I know who you are Burrow. My eyes widened as I took his hand to shake it. I muttered a hello and ‘nice to meet you too!’ back.

The other guys had done peeled off to go get ready back at their ‘lockers’, leaving me alone with THE Joe Burrow.

“So, you go to LSU huh?” Joe asked me, still smiling at me. God, I could lick those teeth.

I nodded back quickly, definitely looking like an insane person.

I decided maybe I should actually pick a better response to that question.

“Uhm, yes I do! I actually dance for the Tiger Girls” I smiled at him trying to not make a fool of myself already.

“Oh, I know” He smirked at me. I could drop dead. “I’ve heard about you before, Y/n - way before your dad started coaching us.”

What. Did. He. Just. Say. He knows about me - even before my dad was in the picture?

I quirked my head at him. “Is that so Mr. Burrow?”

Joe licked his lips. “I guess so. I still keep up with LSU, so when I heard about this new Tiger Girl rookie, who got a full ride just because of her talent - I had to look further into it. Which is where I found out it was you, Miss. Taylor” I widened my eyes even further, why was this guy so interested in finding out who I was? I mean, I didn’t mind but geez.

“What’s so interesting about me being a Tiger Girl with a full ride?” I asked laughing.

“You’re one of the first people in LSU history to get full ride just for getting scouted snd recruited by the Tiger Girls, it basically makes you LSU royalty” Joe responded back looking down at me.

“You’re one to talk, you’re basically a fucking legend at LSU” I chirped back, gesturing to the blonde in front of me.

Joe laughed, “I wouldn’t say that, Miss.Taylor” I could crumble at the nickname.

I just laughed as a response, checking my apple watch and seeing that the time was 8-o-clock. It was about time to head to the field, so I decided to give Joe some time to finish getting ready for practice. I just figured I would find the field on my own, using the signs around the large inside buildings of the stadium.

“Well Burrow, I let you finish getting ready for practice. I’m going to go ahead and head out to the field” I told Joe, turning to head for the door. 

“Hey, don’t get lost gorgeous - if you do, I might have to come save you” I whipped my head over my shoulder to look at Joe. My legs almost stopped working. He stared at me with a crinkly smile on his face.

“Mhm right” I said and smiled back at him. Once I reached the door and closed it. My legs nearly buckled underneath me and I let go of the breath I didn’t even know I was holding. I steadied myself on the wall of the hallway. As soon as I got my balance back, I started to head in  some direction to hopefully find the field.

Gorgeous. I thought. Joe Burrow called me gorgeous. I could faint.

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Joes POV:

She was innocence. A perfectly painted picture created by only the greatest higher-ups. She was the sheer image of flawless and excellence all wrapped up in a human body, and she had been standing right in front of my own two eyes. 

Y/n Taylor - our Coach, Zac Taylor’s daughter was nothing short of gorgeous. Every-time she smiled or talked to me within the short period of time in the locker room had me wanting more and more. I couldn’t get enough of her already. I knew she was destined to be mine. She was heaven on earth, and I couldn’t wait to see her out on that field.

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