We didn't speak as we slipped outside, the warmth of Travis' hand burning through the thin fabric of my dress. The cool night air hit us immediately and I swallowed as Travis closed the door, leaving us completely alone. I was nervous, but also not at all. It was a strange feeling.
"I was at home." I started to say quietly as we walked slowly over the grass. "Abigail brought me the dress but I told her I wasn't going to come, I didn't want to make it complicated." Travis nodded, and I could feel his eyes on me as we walked, but I didn't dare look at him in case I lost my nerve. "I was just reading, and I started singing something I'd never heard before."
"You wrote a song?" Travis asked, almost hopefully.
I stopped, turning to face him as I took my phone out of my pocket. Travis watched as I found my voice note and played it, holding my phone up. We stood there in silence as the few lines I'd written pierced the quiet night, and when it was over, I slowly put my phone back into my pocket. Travis seemed speechless, and I looked nervously up at him, waiting for him to say something. Would he like it? Hate it? I had no idea.
"You just wrote that?" He asked quietly, and still couldn't pick his reaction from the tone of his voice.
"I think I wrote that about you." I whispered. "And I realized that I no longer had any reason to be scared of wanting more from this. I'm ready Travis, if you want me. If you'll take me."
Travis' eyes softened and I forced myself to remember to breathe as his hands lifted to my face. Warmth rushed through me as he took my face in his hands so gently, just holding me. I knew this was still all my decision, he wouldn't be the first to lean in.
"Maybe you're not scared anymore, but I sure am." Travis murmured.
"Why?" I asked, second guessing this.
"Because..." He stroked my cheeks gently, a tiny smile tugging on his lips. "Because I come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is and will always be..." Travis took in a breath. "...yours." He gave me a nervous smile. "And that's a little fucking scary, though I'd never change this for the world."
I looked at him, and then burst out laughing, delighted at what I'd just heard. God, he was so romantic, and so funny at the same time.
"Did you just quote Sense and Sensibility at me?" I asked, giggling as Travis smiled a little sheepishly.
"Well you're an English teacher, and you said you loved that book. I figured it might be really romantic." He shrugged.
"It was." I smiled. I'd told him a few weeks ago that Sense and Sensibility was my favorite classic novel, and the fact that he'd taken it upon himself to learn a little quote from it meant the whole world and more to me.
Travis smiled wider, and god, I was so glad I'd made this choice. Unable to hold off any longer, I slowly rose up on my toes. My heels gave me a little height, but he was still way taller than me, and I had to stretch up to his level. My heart was in my throat, thudding steadily as it urged me on.
And in the middle of the football field, at eight in the evening, on the second Saturday of September, I kissed Travis Kelce.
His lips met mine softly, hands holding me against him as we finally crossed that tentative line. I sighed into the kiss as Travis' hands slid into my hair, and I moved closer to slowly lift my arms around his neck. The kiss was slow, soft, new, and it coursed through me like a gentle wave, soothing as his lips moved effortlessly against mine. Perfectly.
"God." Travis sighed eventually, forced to pull back so we could breathe. "Taylor." He breathed my name. "You..."
"Called it!" Someone shouted, and we jumped, glancing over to see Lucy and some of her friends walking round the back of the gym. "You lied to us Miss Swift!" She shouted in our direction.
"Lucy Graham one day you'll bring trouble upon yourself!" I called back, shaking my head as the girls dissolved into giggles and hurried off. "God, kids." I sighed, shaking my head as I looked up at Travis. "They're so nosy."
"Oh I'll give them something to be nosy about." Travis murmured, pulling me close and kissing me again like he couldn't wait another second. I knew I probably shouldn't have let him kiss me in front of the kids, but I was so wrapped up in the moment that I didn't care. I stretched up on my toes again, pressing myself close as he kissed me slowly, exploring. "I would have waited forever for you." Travis whispered against my lips.
"That's a very long time." I sighed.
"Well, they say when you know, you know." Travis kissed me once more, very lightly. "And I think I know."
"Bold claim Mr Kelce."
"I think sometimes we have to be a little bold in our lives."
I nodded, smiling. Travis took one of his hands, stroking the side of my cheek gently as he gazed into my eyes. I'd never felt so cared for in my life than the way he held me, the way he looked at me. He'd looked at me this way so many times over the last few weeks, but with a tinge of longing. Now, now he had me.
"So." I couldn't stop smiling as I looked up at him. "The English teacher and the football coach huh?"
"How romantic." Travis murmured.
"You know all the kids were betting on it."
"I know." He nodded with a small smile. "They have a whole Instagram page dedicated to us."
"God, I know." I giggled, shaking my head as I looked at him. Oh, the way he smiled at me, it gave me floods of butterflies.
Travis rested his forehead against mine, just looking at me, just holding me. My arms remained draped around his neck as we stood there, lost in the very first of the many moments of us I knew were to come.
We stood there a little while, not wanting to move. We didn't speak. We didn't need to. Travis would occasionally kiss me lightly, or I would lift up on my toes to kiss him, otherwise we just stood there with his hands on my cheeks as we gazed at each other. I felt so young, like a lovestruck teenager falling in love for the first time. I couldn't remember a time I'd felt like this before. It was so breathtakingly perfect.
"You're cold." Travis murmured, moving his hands to my bare shoulders. I shivered at the warmth of his hands, realizing for the first time how chilly it was on the field. "Here." He shrugged out of his jacket and tucked it over my shoulders, rubbing my arms through the fabric. "As much as I hate to cover up this dress, you might catch a cold."
"Thank you." I whispered.
"God." He sighed, taking my face in his hands again. "I can't believe this. I'm not dreaming right?"
"No." I giggled. "I'm pretty sure you're awake."
"Most likely." Travis stroked my cheek. "Because my mind could never come up with something as beautiful as you on its own." I blushed, wondering how such a cheesy line had me melting into his arms. Travis ducked his head, capturing my lips in another kiss. This kiss lingered, and suddenly we were pulling each other closer, my arms tightening around Travis' neck as his hands moved to my waist and held me against him.
He kissed me a little harder than he had before and my body reacted immediately, leaning into his embrace as I felt his tongue probe against my bottom lip. Letting out a sigh, I let my lips part, inviting him in. Travis stroked his tongue gently against mine, and paired with the feeling of his thumbs stroking my waist at the same time, I melted. My heart thumped like a drum in my chest as I pressed my body against his, feeling so warm and safe in his arms. Maybe I was crazy for starting to fall in love so quickly, maybe we were crazy, but maybe it just worked.
"We should go inside, you're still shivering." Travis whispered a little while later, moving to rub my arms gently through his jacket.
"I'm good." I murmured. I really didn't want to go inside where the kids were sure to turn on us. Travis seemed to guess the reason behind my hesitation and smiled, changing direction.
"We can go somewhere else if you'd like." He offered, and I nodded in relief. "Okay, I'll just let Tom know I'm leaving. I'm technically supposed to stay until the kids leave but I'm sure he won't mind. There's more than enough chaperones."
"He'll live without you." I whispered, looping my arm through his as we walked off the field. "You're all mine tonight." Travis smiled, pulling me closer and pressing a kiss to the side of my temple.
He ducked inside to find Tom, and as I waited, I got out my phone and quickly typed out a long text to Abigail, telling her everything that had happened so far. I had her to thank for this, and she knew it too. Travis came out a few minutes later and gave me a small nod to let me know he was free to leave. I smiled, and then flushed a little as he immediately took my hand without even seeming to think about it.
"So, Miss Swift." He murmured, lifting my hand and pressing a kiss to my fingers, again without seeming to think about it. My heart thudded, melting for the way he handled me so gently. "You feel like going on a first proper date?"
"Well we're dressed for it." I smiled, and he smiled back. "Oh, my car." I realized as he started leading me towards his.
"I'll drop you back here to get it whenever you want." Travis assured me and I nodded, moving to follow him. He opened his car door for me, helping me up into the passenger seat before closing the door and moving around to the other side. Turning on the car, Travis leaned forwards and switched the heater on, angling it towards me. "Can't have my girl getting cold, that wouldn't look good on a first date." He murmured to me, and I laughed, delighted at how he called me his. Because I was his now, and I loved it.
I kept my head tilted in Travis' direction as he pulled out of the carpark, smiling to myself. For the first time since I'd left Reading, I felt completely free. I felt happy, like I had everything I could ever want, like I had someone who wanted me. Because I did. He'd done so much for me, waited for me, been my friend when that was all I could handle, offered more whenever I was ready.
"You're thinking very hard about something." Travis said quietly in a way that told me it was okay if I didn't want to share. But I did.
"I'm thinking that you're so much more than I deserve and all I've ever wanted out of life." I whispered, and Travis smiled, looking over at me. He only glanced my way for a second before looking back at the road, but one of his hands lifted from the wheel and reached out to me. I took his hand in both of mine, sliding my fingers through his and stroking his skin lightly.
I had no idea where we were going but didn't really pay attention to the road, too caught up staring at Travis. He was just so damn beautiful, and he was all for me now. My boyfriend, my man, my reason to smile every morning. I was lucky, and I knew it.
"What is this place?" I asked a while later when Travis pulled in outside a diner.
"I didn't grow up here, but we used to come through every so often to visit our grandparents, and my parents would always bring me and my brother to this place." Travis told me, turning off the car. "We stopped coming once they got divorced, but I always remembered it. I thought you might like to see a piece of my childhood." I smiled and nodded, moving to reach for the door handle. "Hey, what are you doing?" Travis made me pause.
"Opening the door?" I frowned, turning to look at him. "I assumed we were going inside."
"We are, but you're my girlfriend now, which means you have to let me open doors for you. Wait there." Travis told me, and I bit down on a girlish smile as he got out of the car and came around. "Miss Swift." He opened my door and held out his hand.
"Mr Kelce." I placed my hand in his, stepping out of the car. My dress fell down around me and I let go of his hand to take the jacket off from around my shoulders and place it where I'd been sitting. I wasn't cold anymore, and I liked the way Travis looked at me in my dress. His eyes slipped down as I turned back to him, swallowing as I closed the car door. "What?" I asked innocently, like my intentions hadn't been for him to look at me that way.
"It's the most beautiful dress I have ever seen." Travis murmured, taking my hand again and leaning down to press a light kiss to my bare shoulder. "On the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." Unable to hold myself back, I lifted my chin in time with him and stretched up a fraction to kiss him. There was something about the way he complimented me that made an urge to kiss him rise up, and I couldn't hold back. Travis slipped his other hand up, past my jaw and into my hair as he kissed me back slowly. "Careful Miss Swift." He murmured against my lips as I slipped my hand around his neck, holding him tightly against me. "I intend on taking you on a proper date before you go kissing me in a way that'll make me put you right back in that car and take you back to my place."
"Mhm, sorry." I giggled, pulling back as he smiled at me. "You think you're gonna get an overnight date out of this huh?"
"I think we'll see how this goes." Travis kissed my cheek and I blushed. "You know I want you." He murmured in my ear, making my cheeks even redder. Then he straightened up, squeezing my hand as he led me up onto the footpath towards the diner.