"Bailey this was great idea." The two roommates were in his kitchen gathering all the necessary ingredients to bake Sam's cake. "What better way to show Sam that we care about him than a cake homemade with love!"
Ted was of course the baker friend that Bailey had mentioned to Roy a few days ago. It was convenient for everyone that Ted was a nervous baker and his first match as Head Coach was the same day as Sam's birthday. Bailey didn't mention the nervous baking to Ted though. He still thought that was a secret of his. She'd chosen instead to mention that since he was planning on baking a new batch of biscuits for Rebecca anyway, they might as well bake the cake too. Strike while the oven is hot! Ted had agreed.
"Looks like we've got everything." Bailey told Ted after surveying the ingredients one more time.
"Feels like we're on one of them fancy cooking shows." Ted told her happily. "I ain't never had an assistant baker before."
"Really?" Bailey thought back to all the times Ted had brough in baked goods over the last two years. The many birthdays and holidays he'd brought in more than his fair share to bake sales and potlucks. "I always assumed Michelle helped sometimes. So, wait, that Christmas party where you brought six dozen cookies and two full sheets of fudge brownies, you baked all of that by yourself?"
"Yes Ma'am." Ted nodded. "Michelle never really cared for bakin', always told me I made a mess of the kitchen. But this is excitin'! Something new we can do together! Why don't you let me help you with that?" He asked as Bailey struggled to get on the apron Ted had loaned her. It had two sets of strings one that tied around the neck and another that tied around the waist. For some reason, she kept getting them twisted and the neck parts would end up tied to the waist. The thing was a mess.
Bailey nodded in agreement. She swept her hair up out of the way as Ted began to detangle the strings. He tied the neck part first; Bailey wasn't prepared for his fingers to accidentally graze against the base of her neck. She stiffened, trying to ignore the way his touch had given her goosebumps. By the time she'd recovered, he'd already moved onto tying a knot at the waist.
"Good to go." He said, letting his hands fall to his sides.
"Okay." Bailey clapped her hands together hoping to shake herself out of her dazed state. She picked up the lined sheet of notebook paper that their recipe was written on. She'd seen Ted remove it from a shoebox he kept above the fridge. She could tell by the lack of blocked writing that Ted hadn't written the recipe himself. He noticed her studying the paper and solved the mystery for her.
"My grandmother on my dad's side." He informed her. "I collect recipes from here and there, but my nana made the best cakes."
"I can't wait to try it tomorrow. It says here we start off with the eggs." Bailey leaned forward to grab the carton of eggs. When she did, Ted caught the slightest hint of her perfume. It smelled sweet with hints of floral notes. Maybe rose water or daisies and vanilla. Whatever it was, he liked it.
Bailey and Ted worked together perfectly. This harmony seemed to carry over into leisure activities like baking too. Bailey would read the recipe, always several steps ahead, to make sure Ted had what he would need next. Baking had always been something Ted had done alone. When he was younger it wasn't exactly cool for a teenager, especially a young man, to be at home making cupcakes or pies. As he got older, he learned that it relaxed him. Baking was easy. Baking was controllable.
He'd tried to bring Michelle into the fold with him once or twice. She never seemed to enjoy it. Baking took a long time and Michelle didn't have the patience for it. She also didn't like following recipes. Even when Ted tried to explain that it was like a science experiment, each little measurement mattered.
Bailey didn't seem to have the same reservations. She didn't care how long baking the cake for Sam would take. She'd told him it was more important that they make something delicious for their homesick teammate than it was to get the job done quickly. She laughed at his corny jokes and made sure each measurement was perfect. She'd even taken care to sift the flower without Ted asking.
"You siftin' the flower?" He laughed when he spotted her doing it out of the corner of his eye.
"I hope that's okay!" She bit her lip with worry. Had she totally ruined the cake before it even had a chance?
"That's perfect, Bailey." He told her.
When all the ingredients were mixed up together and the oven was preheated, they placed their batter into the oven and waited for it to turn into a cake. Bailey began cleaning the counter island. She put away the unused ingredients, like the remaining eggs and flower. While Ted got to work making the buttercream frosting.
"What do you want me to do with the extra batter?" She asked him, holding up the mixing bowl they'd been using.
"Well usually I go ahead an' lick whatever's still on the spoon and toss the rest." He confessed sheepishly. "There's quite a bit left in there though." He said, peering at the bowl in her hands. I suppose we could always make cupcakes or somethin' small."
"Or," Bailey placed the bowl back on the counter island. She opened the cutlery drawer and pulled out two spoons. "We could just eat it now."
She held the spoons out to Ted, offering him to take one. Ted accepted one of the spoons and dipped it into the batter. Bailey took the other spoon and began spooning batter from the other side of the bowl.
"Mmm, this is delicious." She remarked, reaching for another bite.
"It's taste even better once it's baked." Ted promised. After a few more bites, Ted got the bright idea to give his assistant some light teasing. "Say Bailey, looks like you've got a little bit of batter on your face."
"Really?" She put her spoon down and began to feel her face. "Where?"
"Right, here." Ted had scooped up a small amount of batter onto his finger while she'd been distracted. He wiped the batter on the tip of Bailey's nose where she could see it.
"I don't think that play was legal Coach Lasso." She giggled. Bailey dipped her own fingers into the batter. She flicked her hand and splattered Ted's face with cake batter.
"Oh, it's on Donkey Kong!" Ted put his whole hand in the batter and effortlessly tossed some at her.
"Ah!" Bailey attempted to doge, but it was too late. She was hit and immediately retaliated. After a few volleys of batter back and forth she was the one to call the food fight off. "Okay, I think we've made enough of a mess!"
She fell forward, slipping on some of the batter that had landed the floor. Ted caught her by the elbows to save her. This steadied Bailey on her feet and brought the two of them closer together. Bailey looked up to find Ted's face just inches from hers. She was so close to Ted that he could see the small flecks of gold in her eyes.
Bailey found herself holding her breath. She didn't want to move. She just wanted to live in that moment in the poorly lit kitchen with Ted lasso holding her. Time passed and Ted hadn't made any movement himself. Bailey wished she could read his mind. She wanted to know if he was thinking all the same things that she was.
The room was so quiet she felt like she could hear her blood pumping. She had to do something soon. If she didn't Ted was going to. She found herself chewing on her lip as she weighed out her options. She could walk away, just start cleaning up the mess they'd made. Everything would stay exactly as it was. But Ted hadn't let go yet. He hadn't told her some joke in his familiar twang to lighten the mood.
Bailey decided to take a chance. She leaned forward the last few inches that separated her lips from Ted's and kissed him. She couldn't believe she'd had the courage to do it. Even as her lips touched his. After two years of pining and anticipation, she had kissed Ted Lasso.
She thought he kissed her back, but the kiss didn't last long. As soon as Bailey had leaned forward to kiss her boss, there was a knock at the door. The person on the other side probably thought they were knocking at an appropriately normal volume, but to Ted and Bailey the sound was deafening.
A/N: A huge thank you to butterflydance21 for very kindly pointing out that i had uploaded the wrong version of the previous two chapters! this story is available as a reader insert on archive of our own. The Ted x Bailey (oc) version lives here because FF.N has rules against reader inserts. id like to say it wont happen again, but ️ if it does it will we fixed ASAP!