Tear Down These Walls (22 page)

Emily gives her a look. “Do you think that will really happen?” Teagan
smirks. “Just hit it as close to that corner pocket as possible.”

“Aye, aye captain,” Teagan quips. She bends over and strikes the cue
ball. It hits the 5 ball, and the 5 ball rolls over to the pocket. It bounces
off the side but stops directly in front of the pocket.

The guy looks at his partner. “Don’t screw this up.”

His friend shakes his head, turns his cap backward, and steps up to the
table. Emily and Teagan back off and stand next to Trent. The friend stares
down at the table for a while…a long while. Emily turns to Teagan, “He could
shoot already.”

“Give them a fighting chance,” Teagan giggles.

The friend finally bends over and takes a shot. He hits the 10 ball in. The
cue ball then lines up with the 11 ball. Smiling, the friend bends over and
hits the cue ball. Teagan grins because he hit it too hard. The cue ball falls
into the hole, right along with the 11 ball.

“Dude!” The guy exclaims to his friend.

“My turn,” Emily chirps happily. She grabs out the cue ball. She puts it
on the one side of the table. Emily lines it up with the 5 ball. Bending over,
she eyes up the balls. Finally and carefully, she hits the cue ball. It sails
across the table and hits the 5 ball. That ball darts across the table and
slams into the pocket. Emily stands up and grins. “8 ball in the corner
pocket.” She walks around the table.

“You guys are cheating,” the guy angrily spits out.

Emily turns around. “How does one cheat at pool?”

“You are hustling us,” the guy snaps.

“We warned you,” Emily replies. “The wager should have told you we were
good. No one puts that much money down if they suck. You just underestimated us
because we have boobs.”

The guy sneers and steps up to Emily  “You won’t take our money.”

She never saw him move, but Teagan notices Trent come up behind Emily. “I
believe it was a fair bet,” Trent growls. “We
won’t
have a problem
here.”

There is a moment of hesitation as the guy looks up at Trent. Teagan sees
that Trent towers over the guy by a good 5 or 6 inches. She snickers to
herself. The guy finally mumbles, “Fine, take the shot.”

Looking very proud of herself, Emily bends over and hits the cue ball. It
bounces off the side and skims the side of the 8 ball. The 8 ball slowly rolls
over and then falls into the corner pocket. “That’s the game,” Emily calls. She
turns and looks at the guy. “It was a nice playing you.”

“This is bullshit,” the guy snaps.

Trent steps in front of Emily. “I believe you owe these ladies some
money.”

“Whatever,” the guy snarls. He pulls out his wallet and takes out money.
His friend does the same.

Emily happily takes the money. “Thanks guys. One little suggestion, never
doubt a girl’s skills just because she is a girl.”

“Just go away,” the guy spits out.

Trent and Emily turn and walk over to Teagan and Victoria. “We won,”
Emily giggles.

“Was there any doubt?” Teagan laughs back. 

“Nnaahhhh,” Emily draws out.

Victoria winds her arm through Emily’s. “Let’s go celebrate a victory and
a birthday.”

Everyone starts walking back to the table. Trent bends over and murmurs,
“How did you learn to play like that?”

“The one good thing I learned from Justin,” Teagan replies. “He had a
pool table in his basement. He hustled people all the time.”

“I’m thoroughly impressed,” Trent retorts.

“I do what I can,” Teagan says with a smile, nudging him with her hip
again.

They get to the table, and Teagan takes a seat. Trent steps up behind her
and bends down to her ear. He barely whispers, “That is very hot, by the way.”

Teagan blushes. Emily starts to divide the money around the table.
“Everyone wins on this one.”

Victoria holds up a shot, “Here is to our girls!!” Everyone picks up his
or her shots.  “Cheers!” They all down the shot.

Teagan sets her glass down and says, “What now?”

“Dancing,” Victoria replies.

“You have to wait and visit with us for a little while,” Isaac states.
“Michael doesn’t dance.”

“What shall we talk about then?” Teagan asks happily.

“I want to know more about Trent,” Michael interjects. “I swear I know
you from somewhere.”

Trent looks really uncomfortable. “I don’t know why you would.”

“Trent Grayson,” Michael mutters. “I know that name.”

“It’s actually Kellen Trent Grayson,” Teagan chimes in. Trent groans.

Michael’s eyes widen and he yells, “HOLY SHIT, you’re Kellen
Grayson!  HOLY SHIT!”

“What are you so excited about?” Teagan inquires, looking really
confused.

“You are standing next to an undefeated MMA champion!” Michael exclaims.
“I mean UNDEFEATED!”

“Dude….” Isaac starts. “It’s him.  It’s The Cyclone.”

Turning around, Teagan looks at Trent. “What are they talking about?”

“I used to fight in the UFC,” Trent sighs, putting his hands in his
pockets.              

“You were a fighter?” Victoria squeaks.  “Oh my god, that is so
hot
.”

“You never told me,” Teagan says, giving him a perplexed look.

“I will tell you about it later,” Trent whispers.

“Dude, I watched almost every one of your fights!” Michael shouts. “This
is incredible!”

Trent looks to the side and says, “Yeah, I don’t fight anymore, though.”

“Yeah, what the hell, you just dropped off the face of the planet,”
Michael stutters. “I mean…you fought Georgio and then bam, no more fights.”

“My life changed unexpectedly, and fighting was no longer conducive,” Trent
mumbles, obviously trying to drop the topic. 

“Dude, you have to have experienced so much!” Michael exclaims. “You
fought everywhere. You fought in Vegas! That was an incredible fight. You won
in two minutes!  Knocked the other guy out cold in two minutes!”

“It was actually one,” Trent corrects him with a slow smile. “Right hook,
he never saw it coming.”

Isaac stares at him. “I can’t believe we are out drinking with The
Cyclone. You’re fast….so fast.”

“Yeah, that’s how I won,” Trent replies, warming up to the conversation
and loosening up a little bit.  Teagan looks at him in bewilderment. “I
also have been training since I was a kid.”

“I knew you fought in high school,” Teagan says. “You said nothing about
professional fighting.”

“That’s the high school crowd I fell into,” Trent replies with a shrug.
“A friend of mine’s older brother was a trainer in the MMA. He saw what I was
capable of. I fought to train and got into a lot of fights outside of training,
too. I knew I could win. Guys would mouth off, and I was always like, fine, we
will settle it like men.”

Victoria giggles, “And I didn’t think you could get hotter! Wow, was I
wrong!”

Teagan locks her eyes on Trent’s. She looks at him for a second and then says,
“The things you find out about people. So, Justin should be
really
scared of you.”

“Oh yes, he should,” Trent asserts. “Now that you know, if you can, throw
that into conversation. If he finds out and then sees me, then maybe I won’t
have to do anything to keep him away.”

“Undefeated, huh?” Teagan can’t seem to get over it. “That
is
impressive.”

“You must have gotten laid a million times!” Michael yells. “I mean the
girls that you were around. I’m so jealous!”

Teagan clams up, feeling very inadequate. Though she knows that nothing
is going to happen with Trent, it makes her wonder if it’s because she isn’t
good enough.

“Yeah, there were a lot of girls, and I fell into that trap,” Trent
sighs. Teagan can feel him staring at her. “I was young, and it was a free for
all, but looking back at it, I regret it. It was stupid and meant nothing.”

“That’s the whole point!” Michael says.

“Trust me, you want it to mean something,” Trent states. “Hollow sex is
fueled by stupidity, and shit happens when you do stupid things.”

“Whatever,” Michael replies rolling his eyes. “What a life to have led!”

“I need to do another shot,” Trent mumbles. He picks up the godfather
shot. “Here’s to the past!” He takes the shot and drinks it down.

“I think I need one, too,” Teagan murmurs. She follows suit and does the
same shot.  After she swallows it she starts to cough, “That’s horrible!”

Trent pats her on the back. “You’ll be okay.”

A wave of euphoria sweeps over Teagan, and she giggles, “Oh my gosh, I’m
starting to feel good.”

Victoria holds up her godfather. “Here is to an awesome night!” She slams
hers back.  Isaac, Michael, and Emily follow suit. 

Emily gags and exclaims, “That
is
horrible!”

“Sissy,” Michael laughs.

“So, tell us more stories of your days of fighting,” Michael says, eyes
wide. “I am enthralled.”

“Oh boy,” Trent exhales. “It was a crazy time in my life. As much as I
trained, I partied, and I mean partied hard. My trainer didn’t like that, but I
was 18. They let me into the clubs and bars. I could get anything I wanted.”

“You had to have banked,” Michael interjects.

“Yeah,” Trent replies. “I made a lot of money.”

Teagan looks at him. “I thought you made your money from your security
business.”

“I do, but that’s how I have my own business. I had enough money to start
it.”

“Wow, you are
incredible
,” Michael emphasizes.

“I think Mike is more enamored with you than I am,” Teagan laughs at
Trent.

He gets a thoughtful look on his face. “I didn’t know you were enamored
with me,” Trent whispers.

That shuts her up quickly. Teagan looks away from him. “You know what I
meant.”

Trent leans over and murmurs in her ear. “I think you are more honest
when you are drinking.”

She exhales loudly and then says, “I need another shot.” She quickly
downs another one.

“Slow your roll there,” Isaac says, covering the rest of her shots. “You
have had enough for a little while.”

“I will take care of her,” Trent puts his hand on her arm. “Even if she
pukes.”

“I want to dance,” Teagan exhales, needing to get away from Trent for a
moment, afraid of what she will say next.

“I will dance with you,” Isaac chimes. Teagan stares at him, not knowing
what to say.

Victoria quickly interjects with, “Oh no, girls first.” She grabs
Teagan’s hand and pulls her onto the dance floor, pushing their way into the
crowd. Victoria leans in by Teagan and shouts over the music, “This is an
interesting turn of events.”

“Thanks for running interference with Isaac,” Teagan giggles. “I don’t
want to dance with him.”

“You want to dance with Trent, don’t you?” Victoria raises her eyebrows.

“That’s not even an option,” Teagan hiccups. “Let’s just dance, while I
am buzzed and feeling good!” Victoria laughs, and they start dancing with each
other. The more they dance the more buzzed Teagan feels. She feels great and
doesn’t shy away from dancing seductively with her best friend. Closing her
eyes, she follows the music.

After a few songs, Victoria grabs Teagan. “Trent is watching you.”

“What?” Teagan giggles.

“Don’t look, but Trent can’t take his eyes off of you.”

“Well, he should come out here then. He can admire from afar for now.”

Victoria shouts over the music, “You should get him out here!”

“How do you suggest I do that?” Teagan inquires with a grin.

She watches Victoria point to the right. There is a raised platform that
can hold one dancer. No one is on it right now. “Go do your thing.”

“Not in front of people,” Teagan hisses.

“I triple dog dare you,” Victoria retorts. “I bet it will make him look
at you as more than a friend.”

“You think?” Teagan asks. Victoria nods. Teagan eyes the platform, not
one to turn down a dare, especially one that may get Trent’s attention. She
turns to Victoria, smirks and winks. Victoria laughs. Teagan starts to push her
way through the crowd. When she gets to the platform, she carefully walks up
the steps. As soon as she gets up there, she gets nervous, but then a heated
song comes on, and she can’t help herself. 

The alcohol buzz helps remove Teagan’s apprehension. She starts to move
her body as seductively as she can, knowing all eyes will be on her, but not
caring in the least. She runs her hands up both sides of her body and then puts
them in the air. As the song goes on, Teagan drops down to the floor and then
back up. Another song comes on, and she keeps moving. Suddenly, someone is next
to her. 

Teagan opens her eyes to see a guy she does not know standing there. He
grabs her hips and pulls her against him. “You can really dance,” he purrs in
her ear.

Before Teagan can reply, the guy is yanked off the platform. Trent has
him, and he throws him onto the floor. The guy scurries away. Trent sticks his
hands up to Teagan. She bends down. Trent picks her up and brings her down to
the floor. Giggling and blushing, she looks up at him. “What do you think you
are doing?”

“He had his hands on places they shouldn’t have been,” Trent replies,
darkly.

“I was dancing,” Teagan hiccups.

“I saw.”

Giving him a pouty face, Teagan says, “What if I wanted to dance with
that guy?”

“Seriously?” Trent asks, unable to hide the disbelief in his voice.

She brings her finger up and traces it down Trent’s chest. “I want to
dance with someone.”

Trent is silent as he stares at her. He finally murmurs, “Isaac wants to
dance with you.”

Teagan looks into his eyes and whispers back, “Isaac isn’t the one I want
to dance with.”

“Are you drunk?” Trent inquires softly.

Shaking her head, Teagan replies, “No, buzzed.” She pauses and then says,
“It’s all right. With all your talents, I doubt dancing is one of them, so I
will find someone else to dance with.”