"That's attractive." Kylie said, referring to Taylor's towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was still damp from his shower as he walked back in his room. Kylie watched as tiny water droplets slid down his bare back and stopped once they reached the towel.

"Damn it's cold." He went over to his closet and picked out a pair of faded blue jeans and an old Rolling Stones t-shirt. He turned and faced Kylie. "You might want to leave now."

"Who says?" she smiled at him over the rim of her book. "I don't mind if you don't."

"But I do mind." He held open his bedroom door for her. "Go on."

She sighed and set her book down on his bed, getting up and leaving the room. He closed the door behind her and striped the towel from his body, then grabbed his boxers off the floor and began to get dressed.

"I can still imagine." Kylie's voice rang through the door.

"I'm sure you can."

"Hey, did you know the carpet out here has a stain in it?"

"Doesn't surprise me."

"Looks like juice or something." she continued

"Probably is."

"Must be from Avie or Mack."

Taylor decided she'd had enough torture, so before he put his shirt on, he went and opened his door. He looked down and saw her lying on the floor, staring up at him.

"Hi." she said, sitting up. "Is it safe to come back in now?"

He grabbed her hands and pulled her up to a standing position. "Yeah."

"Good, that floor was getting a little uncomfortable."

"You didn't have to lay down or anything." he told her

"What if I wanted to?"

"Then I'd say you're crazy. But I still love you."

* * *

"Sure, I'll tell him you called... yep, bye." Kylie hung up the phone and rolled her eyes. "Want to hear something funny?"

"Sure."

"I don't know where my parents are."

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked as he traced small circles on her bare stomach. "They haven't called?"

"Nope, not one phone call in the past three and a half weeks."

"And you're not worried?"

"No, one time they waited a month before they called."

"How can they not come home for that long?"

"Sometimes they come home late at night. But it's only for a couple hours; just long enough to shower and change clothes. Then they're off again. In the morning there'll be a note on the kitchen counter saying something like, Sorry we missed you this time, we'll call when we can.... Mom and Dad. I just rip it up and throw it away. At first I'd cry, but now I'm so used to it it's like, what's the use?"

"How come you never told me about all of this?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"Well it kind of is."

"Kinda. But they're the ones who chose this lifestyle. They're the ones who decided to have a daughter and not raise her... never call her, never tell her they love her, never even pretend to care about what's going on in her life if and when they call her... they chose that Taylor."

"I know they did, Ky. And it hurts me to see what they've done to you over the years. But I mean, look at you, you've done a damn fine job of raising yourself."

She smiled. "Well, there was some help from your family."

"Hey," he smiled, sliding his arm across her shoulders, "we do what we can."

* * *

"Taylor... " Kylie whined, "Hurry your ass up here, it's freezing." She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stay warm on the cold Tulsa evening.

"I'm concentrating."

"Concentrating my ass." Zac said, "You're wasting time and your precious girlfriend is freezing."

"Just hold on."

"Ugh, that's it." Kylie stomped her way across the driveway, ripping the basketball out of Taylor's hands and shooting it at the basket, making the shot. "There. No more concentrating."

"Hey! That's so not fair!" he cried

"It is too." Isaac said, going to retrieve the ball from the street.

"What's the score now?" Zac asked

"22 - 18, your guys' lead." Kylie imformed him. "Your ball."

Isaac came back with the ball seconds later. "Are we ready here? Hey, what's the winning team get?"

"A twinkie, now come on, you guys are almost to 30, let's play." Kylie bet over at the waist and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Isaac held the ball at his side. "A twinkie, huh? Haven't had one of those since - "

"Jesus Ike!" Kylie threw her arms up in the air. "Pass the damn ball to Zac or something so we can finish this fucking game!"

"Really." Zac agreed

They played for the next half an hour, Isaac and Zac ending up winning the game. "Hah, we beat your sorry asses." Zac said, throwing the ball at Taylor and Kylie as they stood next to eachother at the top of the driveway.

"Yeah, I'm thinking there'll be a rematch tomorrow." Taylor said, bouncing the ball.

"We'll see about that." Kylie piped up, "I don't know if I'll want to play another game of basketball for quite a long time."

"Can't imagine why." Zac smiled at her, then elbowed Isaac in the ribs. "We're gonna head in now, good game though guys."

"Uh, yeah. See ya later Kylie." Isaac followed Zac into the house.

"So, my fellow basketball player, what shall we do now?" Kylie asked, smiling sweetly

Taylor checked his watch. "It's 10:30, you wanna just call it a night?"

"Might as well. Walk me home, James?"

"I'd be happy to." He threw the ball in the grass, then grabbed her hand and held it in his as they walked over to her house.

"You can come in for a few minutes if you want." she said as she was unlocking the front door.

"Actually, I could really use a glass of water. After that big game you know."

She laughed and nodded her head, opening the door and walking inside. She lead the way down the hall and into the kitchen. Taylor grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with cold water at the sink. He turned and leaned back up against the counter, drinking all of the water in mere seconds.

"Ahh..." he said when he finished, "That's what I needed."

Kylie crossed the tiled floor and stood in front of him. She ran her hands over his chest and looked up at him, smiling. "You're all sweaty." she said, bringing her hands down to the hem of his t-shirt. He didn't say a word as he watched her lift it up. He set the glass down on the counter beside him and raised his arms above his head, allowing her to take it off. She leaned forward and kissed his nipple, running her tongue across it lightly. She could hear Taylor exhale a shaky breath as she trailed her fingers down his chest.

"Oh lord,"

She unbuttoned his jeans and let them drop to the floor. "No." he said, taking deep breaths. "Not now, Ky."

"I'm sorry." she apologized, "I know it's late and my kitchen probably isn't the best place to be doing this."

"No it's not, but that's okay. I mean, it's not like I don't want to do this with you, because God do I ever, but this just isn't the best time." She nodded in agreement with him as he bent over to pick up his jeans. Kylie went and stood in the doorway of the kitchen, waiting for him. He grabbed his shirt off the counter and threw it over his shoulder as he walked over to her. "Walk me to the door?"

"Yeah." she said, turning and leading the way to the front door.

"Mom's having this family thing for my dad's side of the family on Saturday and you're invited." he told her when they entered the foyer.

"Oh, okay. I'll be there I guess since I really don't have anything else going on."

"Good." He leaned over and placed his lips on her's. She trailed her fingers down his bare chest before pulling away.

"Night." she said

He put his shirt back on and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Love you." he whispered. He opened the front door and stepped outide, smiling at her before closing the door behind him.