Tear Down These Walls (34 page)

He bends down and picks her up. “There,” he chuckles. “We are the same
height.”

“Don’t drop me.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“You know, my ass is on your arm,” Teagan declares.

Wiggling his eyebrows, Kellen says, “I know. I want to put my hand
there.”

“No! Put me down; we have to go,” Teagan laughs, smacking him.

Kellen sets her on the floor, and she fixes her dress. He brushes her
hair behind her shoulders. “I do have to say,” Kellen whispers. “I love you in
curls.”

“It takes forever to curl all my hair,” Teagan chirps. “Someone better
appreciate it.”

“Well, I do, so there,” Kellen teases. “Hey, wait a second.”

“What?” Teagan replies, looking up. Bending down, Kellen kisses her
gently. When he pulls away, Teagan asks, “What was that for?”

“We have to practice that a lot this weekend,” Kellen declares.

Teagan smiles bashfully, “That’s true.”

“Come on, let’s get going.” He leads her out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, they pull up in front of a bar. “Now, who is all
going to be here?”

“No idea,” Teagan replies, looking out of the window for a familiar face.
“Probably the wedding party and a bunch of people from my high school.”

“I’m so going to be the old person,” Kellen laughs.

“Dude, you’re the hot guy, and chicks dig older men anyway,” Teagan
states.

He shakes his head and gets out of the car. When they meet on the
sidewalk, Kellen leans over and inquires, “Do you dig me?”

“Oh yeah baby,” she quips back. “Let’s go show you off.”

“Okay,” he chuckles. They walk over to the door and open it. Loud music immediately
engulfs them.

The bar isn’t packed, but Teagan instantly smiles when she sees Georgia.
Georgia screams and comes running over to her. She grabs Teagan into a huge
hug. “You’re here!!!!”

“I am!” Teagan replies happily. Georgia pulls away from Teagan and looks
at Kellen.  Her jaw drops. Teagan leans into him. “Georgia, this is Kellen
Grayson, my boyfriend.”

Sticking out his hand, Kellen says, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Georgia shakes it, still a little wide-eyed. “It’s great to meet you,
too.” Finally, she shakes her head. “Come on, everyone is dying to see
you.” 

They walk over to the few full tables that are pushed together.
“Everyone, the life of the party has arrived!”

There are a lot of shouts at Teagan, and everyone seems to want to hug
her.  She feels a little overwhelmed but says hi to everyone. Finally,
Teagan grabs Kellen and says, “So, I want everyone to meet my boyfriend, Kellen
Grayson.”

“HOLY SHIT!” Dwayne shouts. “Dude! You brought KELLEN GRAYSON to my
wedding! Holy shit, Teagan!”

She looks up at Kellen. “He’s excited.” Kellen laughs at her.

Dwayne comes around from the side of the table. “You are
the
Kellen Grayson?”

“Yes,” Teagan replies. “The UFC champion.”

“What!? HOW!? This is incredible!” Dwayne stammers in shock. “How did you
guys meet!?”

“Ummmm,” Teagan starts. She looks up at Kellen. “He came to my rescue one
night, and I started taking his self-defense classes.”

“We have been inseparable since,” Kellen finishes for her, smiling.

Dwayne gestures to the bar. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“That’s not necessary,” Kellen replies. “But we probably do want to order
something.” He looks down at Teagan. “What would you like, Baby?”

“A Stella,” Teagan replies with a smirk.

He winks at her and then looks at Dwayne. “I’m going to the bar. Want to
come with?”

“Hell yeah!” Dwayne exclaims. Kellen nudges his head, and they walk over
to the bar.

One of Teagan’s fellow cheerleaders bends over and whispers, “Wow Teagan,
he is
so
hot.”

“And super nice,” Teagan states dreamily. “He’s an amazing guy.”

“Jealous,” the girl scoffs.

“He doesn’t fight anymore?” some guy asks her.

Teagan shakes her head. “He owns his own security business now.” There
are a couple of blank stares. “You know, he’s a body guard. His company spans
the whole state.  It’s really interesting if you think about it.”

“Wow,” one of her friends exhales. “That’s impressive.”

“Kellen is really impressive all around,” Teagan counters with a smile.
Nervously, she looks around at the faces near the bar. There is no sign of
Justin, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

Georgia puts her arm through Teagan’s and whispers, “Please be honest,
there has to be one fault about him, right? Like is he horrible in bed? Small
penis?”

Smirking at her friend, Teagan murmurs, “No, actually he is
well-endowed.”

“Oh!” Georgia yells. “So unfair!” Teagan laughs lightly to herself.
“Well, Honey, you look fantastic. You could be a model. You haven’t changed
since high school. The rest of us have put on weight.”

“You look beautiful, stop,” Teagan retorts. “I have put on a few pounds,
too.”

“Like what, two?” Georgia quips, rolling her eyes.

Teagan shrugs her shoulders, “I don’t know, but I needed to look good
this weekend.” She gives a knowing glance at Georgia.

“Ah,” Georgia whispers. “Got to stick it to Justin.”

“Yeah,” Teagan mumbles.  She looks around. “Is he going to be here
tonight?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Georgia answers. “He will shit bricks when he
sees Kellen.”

Grinning, Teagan says, “Good.”

“You know, if I wasn’t so head over heels in love with my fiancée, I
would try to steal your boyfriend from you. My god, is he delicious!” Georgia
exclaims. Teagan turns to watch Kellen and Dwayne at the bar. When her eyes
scan around, she sees almost every girl staring at him, and it makes her want
to laugh. Suddenly, a beautiful blonde walks up next to him and puts her hand
on his shoulder. She starts to whisper something to him. Georgia looks at
Teagan. “You may want to go over there and bitch slap that girl.”

She shakes her head, “Kellen’s got it.” And right after she says that,
Kellen pushes the girl back gently. He says something to her and then gestures
to Teagan. Teagan waves her fingers at the blonde. The girl blatantly scowls in
Teagan’s direction before turning away in a huff. Teagan looks back at Georgia.
“I trust him completely.”

“So, tell me, what’s he like?” Georgia urges. “Details, I want details.”

“He’s very kind, compassionate, and super protective of me, which I
like.”

“Overbearing?” Georgia
counters.          

“No, not at all,” Teagan states. “The only thing he harps on me for is my
safety, but with everything going on right now, I need that.”

“What’s going on?” Georgia asks, sounding concerned.

Teagan shakes her head, “Nothing important, just someone harassing me.”

“Are the police involved?”

She nods, “Yeah, they know what’s going on. Kellen has put in a new
security system into my apartment, and I have Tasers to keep with me wherever I
go. They are the crazy gun ones with the laser pointer.”

“Is it that bad?” Georgia gasps.

“Yeah, it kind of is,” Teagan says. “But, really, don’t worry about it.
Kellen is trained for this stuff. I’m not safer anywhere than with him.”

“Okay, I will take your word for it,” Georgia sighs. “Uh oh, here come
our guys.”

Kellen and Dwayne come walking back over. Kellen hands Teagan her beer.
“There you go babe.”

“Thanks,” Teagan replies. She takes a sip. “So did Dwayne grill you with
forty questions?”

“It wasn’t
that
bad,” Dwayne laughs. “Only like…twenty five.”

“It’s all right, man,” Kellen says, slapping him on the back. “You’re the
groom, and this is your weekend.”

Dwayne reaches over and nudges Teagan, “You still play pool, girl?”

“I scored a large amount of cash on my birthday, so yeah, I still play,”
Teagan giggles.

“Let’s play a round then,” Dwayne pipes up. “For old time’s sake.”

“Is that all right?” Teagan asks Kellen.

Smiling, Kellen says, “You do whatever you want.”

“Awesome!” Dwayne cheers, as he grabs Teagan’s hand.

Georgia is heard in the background. “That is all these two used to do…..
with Justin.”

“We won’t be talking about him,” Kellen states seriously.

“Oh yeah, of course not,” Georgia stutters.

They all get to the pool table, and Dwayne says, “I will rack them.”

“I will break,” Teagan states as she grabs a pool stick. “Are we putting
money down?”

“Oh no,” Dwayne says. “We are going to play with fun facts.”

“Oh dear lord,” Teagan laughs  Kellen looks at her perplexed. She
sighs, “You play the whole game like truth or dare. Someone calls the shot, and
if they miss it, they have to answer a question.”

“I see,” Kellen chuckles.

“Heads up,” Georgia hisses at Teagan.

Confused, Teagan looks up at the door, and her heart falls into her
stomach when she sees Justin walk in. She can’t help but stare at him, fear
boiling up in her stomach. 

Kellen steps up next to her. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

She turns to him. “Justin just walked in.”

He brings his hand up and puts it on the side of her face. “Where?” he
whispers.

“Blonde guy, green shirt, khaki pants,” Teagan exhales.

“Okay,” Kellen says, pulling Teagan close to him.

“Aren’t you going to look?” Teagan quips.

With heat in his eyes, Kellen says, “Nope.” And he kisses her. She
realizes what he is doing, so she wraps her arms around his neck to pull him
closer, and the yearning starts to build again. She can’t help but mold herself
into him. He places his hands on the small of her back, pulling her hard
against him.

After a minute, they hear, “Ugh…..hey guys.”

“Hey Justin,” Dwayne coughs out uncomfortably. Teagan pulls back a little
bit to breathe. Kellen lets her take one breath before he starts kissing her
again. Georgia bursts into giggles behind Teagan.  “Hey, Teagan, want to
actually play a game, or do you want him to just lay you down on top of the
table?”

She finally steps back and puts her fingers to her mouth. The heat from
Trent’s lips is still there. “Yeah,” she giggles. “Sorry.” With that, she turns
around but doesn’t look at Justin. “I’m breaking, right?”

“Yup,” Dwayne answers.

When she walks over to the other side of the table, Kellen follows her.
Teagan scans the table. Out of her peripheral vision, she sees Justin step up
to the table to the right of her.  She completely ignores him. Lining up
the shot, she hits the cue ball, and it shoots across the table, breaking up
the balls. A solid rolls over and drops into a pocket. “I am solids!” She
announces.

“Good job,” Teagan hears Justin say. 

Teagan doesn’t respond but walks to the other side of the table. “That
ball, corner pocket,” she states.

“Miss it, miss it, miss it!” Dwayne cheers.

She bends over and nails the ball perfectly. “Awww, sorry Dwayne.”

“You still have more shots to take,” Dwayne snickers.

“Fine, fun fact time, pick a shot,” Teagan sighs happily. 

“4, side pocket,” Dwayne retorts.

“Ouch,” Justin laughs. Teagan glares at the table. She walks around to
the other side, looking at which angle would give her the best shot. Finally,
she decides and bends over.  Teagan very carefully takes the shot. It
barely misses and she hangs her head.

“SCORE!” Dwayne yells. “Now, now, now,
what
am I going to ask?”

“Be nice,” Georgia snaps.

Standing up, Teagan feels Kellen walk up next to her. He puts his arms
around her and pulls Teagan against him. “What’s the question Dwayne?”

“What are the best and worst qualities about Kellen?” Dwayne chirps.

“Best and worst, huh?” Teagan laughs, looking up at Kellen. “Hmmmm, well,
the best is that he takes care of me no matter how terrible I feel, and the
worst is….hmmmm…..that’s a tough one.”

“He has to have a bad quality,” Dwayne groans. “Or are you still in the
honeymoon phase of your relationship?”

“Bad thing, he is usually a gentleman when I want him to be a scoundrel,”
Teagan states.

A huge smile spreads across Kellen’s face. “I can change that.”

“That isn’t a bad quality,” Dwayne groans.

Teagan turns to Dwayne. “Honestly, I haven’t found one yet.”

“I really can’t cook very well…at all,” Kellen interjects. “I also pay
people to clean my house.”

Teagan laughs. “You would think a grown man could keep his house clean.”

“Well,” Kellen replies. “I am a very organized person, but I have a
service that comes through once a week.”

“Lazy,” Teagan snorts.

“Hey, I can afford it, why not?” Kellen states, shrugging his shoulders.

“Okay, Groom, your shot,” Teagan says.

Dwayne sets down his beer and walks around the table. He bends over and
takes a shot. It rolls right into the pocket. Georgia cheers for him. Dwayne
looks up at Teagan. “Call it.”

She eyes the table and says, “11 in the far corner pocket.”

“All right,” he chuckles, as he takes the shot and misses. “All right,
all right, shoot.”

Tapping her chin, Teagan asks, “Have you been all over each other this
week, or are you waiting for your wedding night?”

“OH!” Georgia exclaims. “We haven’t had sex in six months and haven’t
kissed in a month!”

“WHOA!” Teagan shouts. “Why?”

“It will make our wedding night special,” Georgia replies happily.

Teagan looks up at Kellen. He narrows his eyes, “Don’t get any ideas.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Teagan retorts. “There is no way I could hold off for
that long.”

There is an uncomfortable clearing of the throat. Everyone turns to
Justin. He is staring straight at Teagan. “Hey Teagan,” he whispers quietly.

“Justin,” she replies sharply. “Kellen, honey, this is my ex-boyfriend,
Justin.  Justin this is my boyfriend Kellen Grayson.”

“Dude JUSTIN, that is KELLEN GRAYSON, THE Kellen Grayson!” Dwayne yells.