Tear Down These Walls

by Sarah Kay Carter

  * * * * *

  “So…..” Kellen starts. “I don’t think I will eat again the entire time we are here.”

  “Well, thankfully there is no more eating today,” Teagan laughs, as she puts on an earring. “We are going out.”

  “I know,” he huffs. “But I am so full!”

  “You didn’t have to have thirds,” Teagan snorts and smiles. “That’s all on you.”

  He flops down on the bed. “God, how are you not three hundred pounds?”

  “Lots of exercise in high school,” Teagan snorts. “I have to go put my dress on now.”

  “Just put it on in here,” Kellen mumbles, putting his hands under his head.

  Teagan looks at him, appalled. “I will do no such thing!”

  Kellen sits up and raises an eyebrow. “I have two important facts for you.”

  “Okay, what are they?” Teagan replies, with a smirk.

  “The first, I have already seen you completely topless.” He smiles.

  Flushing red, Teagan mumbles, “Don’t remind me.”

  “And the second involves an incident where we were pressed up against each other in a hot shower wearing nothing but our underwear.”

  She gets even redder. “Your point?”

  “Is getting into a dress in front of me really that big of a deal?” Kellen asks with a blasé attitude.

  Teagan turns away from him. “I guess not.” He waves his hands and then plops back down on the bed. She eyes him suspiciously. “Aren’t you going to get ready, too?”

  “Yup,” Kellen sighs, getting up. He walks over to his suitcase. Teagan watches him open it. He takes out a pair of dress pants and a white shirt. Mildly curious, Teagan watches him kick his shoes off. When Kellen drops his pants, Teagan squeaks and turns around. She can hear him laughing. “Did you just gasp?”

  “What?” Teagan retorts. “No.”

  “Mmhmmmm,” he hums. “You know, I am wearing underwear.”

  Smirking, Teagan says, “Boxer briefs, I know, very sexy. Your ass looks good in them.” She senses Kellen turning around behind her.

  “Did you actually just say that?”

  “Yup,” Teagan laughs “Now, turn around and don’t look.”

  “Or stand here and stare,” Kellen snorts mischievously.

  With a glare, Teagan spins and looks at him. “I’m going into the bathroom. I have to change bras.”

  “Now, that I want to see!” Kellen exclaims.

  “No!” Teagan yells.

  He sits down to put on dress shoes. “Oh come on, I’m your boyfriend. Isn’t seeing you topless an added bonus?”

  “You’ve seen the girls already,” Teagan groans sarcastically.

  “Exactly,” Kellen replies. “Seeing them again isn’t a big deal.” Teagan glares at him. He only wiggles his eyebrows in response. She spins around, so her back is to him. Teagan pulls off her shirt and then unclasps her bra. “Um, excuse me, you are supposed to be facing me for this to be any fun.”

  “Deal with it,” Teagan teases. She puts on the strapless bra and then turns around. “Did you enjoy that?”

  Kellen rolls his eyes. “You have a very sexy back, but that is all that I saw.”

  “That is all that you were supposed to see,” Teagan declares.

  “You took all the fun out of it,” Kellen groans. “Put the dress on.”

  Feeling somewhat victorious, Teagan pulls off her pants and walks over to put the dress on. It slides on perfectly and she spins in a circle. “How do I look?”

  “Deliciously appetizing,” Kellen purrs, running his tongue over his top lip.

  “You make me sound like a food,” Teagan laughs.

  Kellen opens his mouth but closes it for a moment before finally replying. “I am going to keep any inappropriate responses to myself.”

  “Kellen!” Teagan shouts in shock.

  “I didn’t actually say anything,” he replies, with a sinister grin. Standing up he walks over to her and bends down to her ear. “Though I bet treating you like a piece of food would be an eye-opening experience, to say the least.”

  A heated blush quickly passes over her face. “Kellen, I swear.”

  “Am I not supposed to be your boyfriend?” He replies smoothly.

  “Well, yes,” Teagan says.

  “I mean, come on. Your mom is thinking we have sex when we’re at home, maybe even thinking we’ll have sex in here while we’re visiting. We might as well do something.”

  Poking her finger into his chest, Teagan snaps, “Kellen Trent Grayson, you behave yourself!”

  “Now….” He starts, “What’s the fun in that?”

  “Put your shirt on,” Teagan snips with a smirk.

  “You like me with it off; don’t lie.”

  Teagan leans in and says, “You can go without one. I wouldn’t mind.”

  “Make you a deal, I will go shirtless if you don’t wear any underwear,” Kellen murmurs back.

  “Ha, ha, ha,” Teagan chuckles. “Funny.” Kellen slides his shirt on and starts to button it. Teagan slaps his hands away and buttons it for him. “This shirt fits you very snugly.”

  “Shows off my muscles better,” he replies softly.

  She looks up into his eyes. “You’re so damn hot.”

  “I would have to say the same thing about you,” Kellen whispers.

  When Teagan finishes the last button, she pats him on the chest. “The girls are going to die when they see you.”

  “Well, Justin’s jaw will drop if he is there tonight,” Kellen replies. “Then if I’m lucky, my fist will meet his face out in the back alley.”

  “As much as I would like that,” Teagan says. “This weekend is about the wedding of two of my best friends. We can always come back at Christmas to beat the shit out of him.”

  “You know if we do that, we have to pretend to date for a few more months.”

  “Oh darn,” Teagan sighs sarcastically. “Okay, I need to put my shoes on.” She takes them out of her suitcase and slides them on.

  Kellen shakes his head. “I don’t know how you girls wear heels and not fall on your face.”

  “Practice,” Teagan giggles. She walks over to him. “Look, now I am only eight inches shorter than you versus the usual eleven.”

  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 e
xhales.

  “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?”