Getaway Car

In the Hallway With a Big Cake

Travis stood at the door of Taylor's beachfront mansion and rang the doorbell. He could hear it reverberating through the palatial estate. He'd been checked in at a gate and driven by at least five security guys, so ringing the doorbell felt odd. She'd certainly been notified he was here, but his goal for the day was "normal," and normal people rang doorbells. He'd had some time to process and he wasn't proud of how'd be left her in Cleveland. He'd signed up for this and it wasn't her fault he couldn't stop thinking about her. He was annoyed she wasn't miserable to be around? He took every game one play at a time; he would take this one day at a time. He loved spending time with her, even just as friends. He didn't need to get in his own way and worry about what the future held.

Furthermore, she deserved some normal. He'd taken for granted how relatively normal his life was before Taylor. He'd also had 24 years before becoming a professional football player. Thank God he wasn't famous in his early 20s. Taylor had an album out at 16 and a CMA by 17. She was in the national spotlight when Travis had been an idiot teenager. The fact that she didn't seem terribly screwed up spoke volumes about her parents. Now he could deliver a deeply normal birthday. That was doable.

Taylor opened the door and squealed. Travis was wearing a very large, fleece onesie with a dinosaur hood and had a giant IKEA bag under one arm.

"What is this?!" Taylor exclaimed. Travis was once again grateful to her security team for letting him get away with some surprises.

"Since I am older and wiser, I know what is needed for a good 34th birthday. And it is an elevator and steak. But since we've already done that, the next best thing is the coziest night of your goddamn life," Travis bent down to be eye-to-eye with her, looking mock-serious.

"Do tell," Taylor stepped aside to let him in.

"First, get changed," Travis threw Taylor a matching onesie, but instead of a dinosaur, her's was a cow.

Taylor threw up her hands in surrender and stole away to change. Travis unloaded his IKEA bag in the kitchen for Phase 2. Spread out across a monumental kitchen island was a grocery-store-aisle's worth of baking supplies.

"Oh??" Taylor's eyes grew wide as she re-entered the kitchen, now in her finest cow attire.

"I am baking you Mama Kelce's famous chocolate chip cookies," Travis said proudly.

"And it requires Vietnamese Cinnamon? Is this Malted Milk Powder?" Taylor asked, reading the labels of the dozens of ingredients.

"I may have overbought," Travis shrugged. "But that's not it," he reached back into the neverending IKEA bag and pulled out two bottles of wine. "I consulted a wine guy about what would pair best with chocolate chip cookies."

"I'm sold," Taylor grabbed two wine glasses from a cabinet.

After two heavy pours of wine, Travis started on Mama Kelce's handwritten recipe. Taylor sat on a stool on the other side of the kitchen island, laughing as Travis did his best (which was very bad) Paul Hollywood impression. She only needed to step in once, faking horror, when he was about to skip the separate bowl for dry ingredients.

After a concerning amount of raw cookie dough was consumed, they finally put a batch in the oven. Once again diving into the IKEA bag, Travis produced Phase 3: Law & Order Complete DVD Set.

"Did you know I was a criminal justice major in college," Travis said, puffing up his chest.

"No! Really?"

"Really. But um, don't ask me any questions about it. My major was really more like football. There was a 'Criminology in Film and TV' class, actually. Law & Order was like a whole unit. So now we'll watch this until our brains turn to mush while drinking wine and eating cookies. Welcome to 34," Travis smiled widely from his dinosaur onesie.

Both a little wine-drunk, Taylor tackled Travis with a hug. "Thank you, Travis. This is a great birthday."

After a good four hours of Olivia Benson, wine, and excuses of being "cold" in a fleece cow onesie, Taylor was now sitting very close to Travis despite the enormous couch. He wasn't going to complain with her curled up on one side and a cat on the other.

"So..." Taylor began, looking up at him. Every instinct in his brain was screaming at him to take her face in his hands and kiss her. He really wanted to kiss her, but that wasn't part of the deal.

"I was wondering," Taylor continued, "if you'd be my date for New Year's Eve? I'm throwing a party for my friends in New York." Travis was holding in his joy that she'd asked him, without bringing up their fake relationship. Was she asking Travis Travis, and not Fake Boyfriend Travis? Either way, he was in.