When my family gathers around the table for the holidays, we all take turns sharing what we’re grateful for. This year, my list began predictably enough: Health, job, boyfriend, dog.
“Oh,” I added, “and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.”
My father scoffed. He couldn’t comprehend why a pop star and a football player meant so much to me.
Though I’d mentioned them (partly) in jest, I found myself attempting to describe what I felt was particularly affecting about their relationship: She was finally with a guy who seemed to appreciate her. He was famous enough that he didn’t seem intimidated by her superstardom. And they were just so pretty and happy and sweet together!!!
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Dad sighed.
“Can you pass the sweet potatoes please?”
He would have been far more perplexed — borderline horrified — if I’d revealed how deep my new obsession went. After years of acting like a full-on brat whenever my partner put sports on TV, I was suddenly planted right beside him whenever a Kansas City Chiefs game was on. My friends and I made bets on how soon Taylor and Travis would get engaged.
Worst of all was the video.
Conservatively, I had watched a clip of Taylor and Travis kissing after her concert in Argentina 100 times. Maybe more, because new angles of the Nov. 11 embrace kept dropping on TikTok — each offering a better view than the last of their first public PDA.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m sorry your life is so miserable. Let me set the scene: Taylor has just played a sold-out show for 85,000 people in Buenos Aires, the first with Travis in tow as her boyfriend. He has spent the entirety of the three-hour concert singing and dancing in the VIP tent next to Taylor’s dad, who is wearing a Chiefs lanyard around his neck. And when she changes her lyrics to make them about him — “karma is a guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me” — he puts his hands on his cheeks in adorable disbelief.
The clip captures Taylor leaving the stage in one of her signature bedazzled bodysuits, waving goodbye to her fans. The instant she spots Travis, awaiting her with his hands held politely behind his back, she runs to him. He smiles and shakes his head, like he can’t believe his luck. She throws her arms around his neck and kisses him. Their lips remain locked as they spin around slowly. She whispers something in his ear as he continues to hold her close. Confetti falls. Fans shriek. Then they disappear from view.
