TNT Short Fics

Okay but do they like me? Part 2/2

Note: There is the TINIEST of mentions of the KC parade events. You might even miss it but I wanted folks to be aware.

"Hey Travis, is this seat taken?" Mrs. Saunders said as she took the spot next to him. He sighed in relief. He'd met her several times over the years at Chiefs games and always loved her. Now surrounded by the few people he knew and didn't have to put on his best behavior for, he could relax. He hadn't noticed that he'd been a bit tense around the dancers and staff that had joined them today until they stopped to grab a late lunch after the zoo.

Still, when she leaned around him to talk to Taylor, he could acknowledge that maybe he was not hiding it well.

"Taylor, this is the most well-behaved I've ever seen your man," Mrs. Saunders teased as she shook her head. "Those boys were rowdy as hell from what I remember from when Khalen was on the team."

Taylor looked at him playfully and raised her eyebrow before agreeing. "Oh, I noticed."

Well, shit.

"Yeah, he's being Mr. Gentleman right now," Ross chimed in from across the table. "Dude, you're freaking me out."

Travis felt his face heat up, making Taylor lose it in a fit of giggles.

He put his menu up to block them out. But from down the table, Sabrina chimed in, "He was like that in Argentina too!"

****

Back at the hotel, everyone had gone their separate ways to regroup before a cocktail thing on the harbour later that night. The Eras Tour team liked to make the most of the time they stayed together between stops to have some fun. While Taylor was mindful of giving the dancers their downtime without the boss around, she usually tried to get one night in with them if she didn't need to rest up.

But they still had a few hours before they had to leave, so Taylor had simply dragged him by his collar into the suite the minute Ross had said he was headed to his room to take a nap.

Now an hour later he found himself sitting in the gorgeous hot tub on the balcony watching his vision of a girlfriend pile her hair up in a makeshift bun while the warm water pinked her skin even more from what they'd been up to before coming outside.

"Nice to see you dropped the sweet boyfriend act once we got behind closed doors, Trav," she said as she grinned mischievously at him.

"Hey! I am always the sweet boyfriend," he countered.

She dropped the joke and looked at him fondly. He would never get over how loud her eyes were when they were on him. How much they told him without her ever having to say a word.

"You are, I just had to tease you," she replied. "I just think you're so cute trying to impress everyone."

He thought about denying it. Try to keep up being the cool guy but that really wasn't how they operated. Taylor wasn't here for the cool guy. She was here for him. And he was loud and goofy and she loved every minute of it.

Plus, this whole conversation reminded him of the day he came home to a bakery case exploded across their kitchen.

"I just want them to like me," he shrugged, echoing her words from last December.

"Travis, they adore you. And if they don't, it's only because they are probably sick of me talking about you."

"You talk about me?" he said with mock innocence.

She rolled her eyes at him. "You know I do."

He smiled, knowing full well that they both basically never shut up about the other. It made him happy in a way that probably should have lessened over the almost seven months they'd been together, yet just got stronger every day. Just like how much he loved her.

"We definitely should never let your team and my team be in the same place. Can you imagine how much shit they'd talk about us?" He shook his head at the thought, "We'd never hear the end of it if they got to compare notes."

"Eh," she said as she propped her arm over his shoulder. "They can talk and we'll just sneak away and go make out."

He laughed and smoothed his hand over the top of her head. The bun she'd put together was coming undone as the humidity did its work on her hair.

He almost couldn't believe he was here, having this ridiculous conversation. Being able to just look at her in the February summer air with the skyline of Sydney behind her. He'd missed her so much the past week that he had skipped the last day of the golf tournament he was supposed to have played in to sneak a trip to Sydney before the Chiefs party. And he couldn't bear the thought that he'd almost missed this.

"I missed you," she whispered, almost reading his thoughts. Their joking fell away for sincerity.

"So much, baby," he said, kissing her forehead. "After last week... I just wanted to be here with you."

"I know, me too." She moved over and settled herself in his lap, keeping them close.

"And I do want everyone to..." He searched for the right words. "Maybe not like me. Just know how much you mean to me."

"Honey, I'm pretty sure the whole world knows how much I mean to you. You spent a week never shutting up about me even though it was your big game," she said with an awed tone.

She paused for a moment, letting out a breath before continuing. "You can't know how much that means to me. I never thought...I thought I would never have a partner that did that. And here you are."

"Here I am," he agreed. "And I am going to keep telling the world over and over and over, Tay."

She smiled and here with him in the sunshine, she looked so happy. So at peace. That's all he ever wanted to give her.

"I absolutely know you will, Trav."

He pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her tight. He dropped his right hand to the soft skin of her side, squeezing three times.

She leaned back and kissed him, smoothing her hand across his eyebrow.

"I'm just so very happy you're here," she said again. He heard the deeper meaning behind her words, both because of last week and because of the journey they'd gone on to find each other. He turned and kissed the palm that had stayed on his face.

"I'm glad you're here too. Still pinch myself sometimes."

They stayed close together. Only untangling themselves for a moment to turn around to look out over the city as the sun began to set over the harbour in streaks of orange, red, and gold.

When they started to think about getting out and getting ready, he couldn't help but pick back up their joke from earlier.

"Now what was that you said about making out?" he quipped, waggling his eyebrows at her. "I'm thinking a hickey could help me get rid of the Mr. Nice Guy nickname tonight."

He remembered how strong she was right as she dunked his head under the water.