"I won't," Taylor said. "Go on. Do it."
She chewed her lip nervously. "Have you ever seen a girl do this before?"
"No. There's a first for everything, though," he replied. "Maybe it will land you a spot in the WNBA."
"I wish," Skye muttered.
"Okay, Miss Whiney. Just do it already," he said impatiently. Skye walked down to the opposite end of the court. Then, she began to run down the "court" (which was really just the carport behind her house). As she neared the goal, she took a step as if to do a lay-up, but instead jumped up high enough that she literally put the ball in the net, her hands hitting the orange metal ring. She held on for just a second before dropping to the ground.
"You're so fucking tall," Taylor said with a grin. "A chick who slam dunks. You don't see that everyday."
Skye bowed for him, and then jogged off to pick up the ball which had rolled onto the grass. "Well, I just wanted to test it out on you. It doesn't look funny or anything does it?"
"Nope," he replied.
"You sure?" she asked.
"Positive."
"Would it be okay if I tried it at a game?" she asked.
"Is it legal?" he asked back.
"I've never heard them say it wasn't," she shrugged.
"Go for it," he told her, standing up.
"Ready for me to whoop your ass again?" Skye asked. Taylor nodded, causing her to laugh. "I thought you'd wait at least another day or two before you allowed yourself to be pounded again. Have you no pride?"
"Yeah," Taylor said, trying to snatch the ball that Skye was now dribbling tauntingly in front of her. "I'm trying to win it back."
"You know that'll never happen," Skye said, as she pivoted, went around him and put the ball back in the net. She rebounded, then turned to grin at him. "I'm too good for you, Hanson."
"I know," Taylor said with a sly grin. "But there's something about playing physical sports with you that makes it worthwhile."
"Ooooh," Skye groaned. "You sounded like such an asshole."
"You know you love me anyway," Taylor said smugly.
Skye shrugged and grinned at him. "Are you gonna play or just stand there and pretend you're Romeo?"
"Pretend? Why, I thought I was the man!" Taylor proclaimed, clutching his hands to his chest dramatically. "What light through yon window breaks! Tis the east...and Skye is the sun!!!"
Skye laughed. "It sounds like you're on crack!! The sky isn't the sun. The sun is in the sky, Taylor!"
Taylor snickered. "Is it my fault you have to have a weird name?"
"Oh and like yours isn't? Taylor is a girl name!!" she exclaimed, abandoning the basketball to attack Taylor with her fists. She began to chase him around her backyard, playfully punching him. "So is Jordan, now that I think of it!!!!"
"Is not!"
"Excuse me... Jordan is a river," Skye laughed.
"Well, at least I'm not the sky," Taylor sniffed, coming to a stop. Skye kicked him in the butt before jumping on his back.
"You're crazy," she told him, burying her face into his shoulders and breathing in the smell of his hair.
"I'm not the one jumping on people's backs," Taylor said, giving her a piggy-back ride up to the car port.
"Does it bother you that much?" she asked in a low, sultry voice.
Taylor grinned wryly. "What do you think?"
She placed her feet on the ground and disentangled her arms from his neck. "I think I like you, regardless of the fact that you are a horny jerk most of the time."
"Well I like you too, despite the fact that you are usually cold and insensitive most of the time," he said.
"We must be awfully pathetic," Skye said, flopping down on the ground. "We like people who we don't even have a reason to like."
"I know why I like you," Taylor said, sitting next to her.
"Why?"
"Cos you see me for me," he said softly, leaning towards her.
"What? Didn't you know I was just into you because you were a famous rockstar?" she asked jokingly, although it came out more breathless than anything else.
"Is that it?" Taylor asked, closing the gap between them with his mouth. After a moment, they pulled apart.
"And...you know...you're a good kisser," she said.
"I'm glad that you think so," he said and kissed her again.
