Tear Down These Walls (43 page)

“Probably,” Teagan quips back.

“Come on, let’s get out. We’re both prunes.”

Teagan giggles and stands up. She cocks her hip and says, “Are you sure
you want to go to bed?” She pauses and then quips, “Well, the bed gives us a
place, too.”

“No,” Kellen laughs. “Pajamas on, bed time. We have to go to your
parents’ before the gift opening. We can’t look like death.”

“Party pooper,” Teagan draws out. “I’ll go get us some towels.” She
climbs out of the whirlpool and practically skips her way into the bathroom.
When she looks in the mirror, she grimaces. “How could you have done all that
with me, when I looked like a raccoon?”

Kellen comes into the bathroom behind her and grabs a towel. “That just
happened actually, and it doesn’t bother me. You may want to wash all that off
before bed, though.”

“You ain’t kidding,” Teagan laughs, as she reaches for a wash
cloth. 

“I’m going to get our toothbrushes,” Kellen states, as he wraps the towel
around his waist.

Teagan starts to wash her face and watches him leave the room. “That man
is so hot.”

“What did you say?” Kellen calls from the other room.

“I was just admiring you as you walked away,” Teagan yells out happily.
She continues to scrub the make-up off of her face. “The things we do to look
beautiful.”

Walking back in, Kellen says, “If you don’t want to, don’t wear make-up.
I will love you either way.”

Instantly, Teagan freezes and she stares at Kellen. He pays her no attention
and walks back out of the bathroom. “What the…..” Teagan exhales. “Did he just
say that?  No…I’m totally taking that the wrong way.” She shakes her head.
“Yeah, it was a slip of the tongue. Totally.” Teagan pauses and thinks about it
for a second. “Nahhh, he didn’t mean that,” she finally whispers. With that,
Teagan reaches for her toothbrush.

Teagan awakens to her phone going off. She opens one eye and grabs it. It
takes a second, but she finally silences the alarm. Exhaling, she puts it back
on the night stand.   Teagan rolls over to look for Kellen. He isn’t
in bed. She sits up and yawns. The shower is going in the bathroom, so Teagan
figures Kellen is in there. She climbs out of bed and grabs his shirt off the
floor. There are only two buttons left on it, but she puts it on anyway. She
walks over to the bathroom door and knocks. She hears a chuckle and then, “Why
are you knocking?”

“I don’t know what you are doing in there!” Teagan exclaims.

“Honey, I think you can come into the bathroom while I’m in the shower,”
Kellen laughs. “If I was doing anything inappropriate, you would be in here
with me.”

Teagan smiles. She opens the door and walks in. “Oh really?”

He smiles at her through the glass. “Oh yeah.”

“Are you almost done?” Teagan whines. “I have to pee.”

Giving her a look, Kellen says, “Then go pee.”

“Not in front of you!” Teagan yells.

“Oh dear lord!” Kellen shouts. “Teagan, just go to the bathroom. I’m not
even looking.”

Unable to hold it anymore, Teagan snaps, “Fine!” She sits down and sighs.

“Girls are so weird,” Kellen grumbles as he washes his hair.

“I’m modest,” Teagan chirps.

“After last night?” Kellen teases.

“Well, okay, maybe not entirely with you anymore,” Teagan giggles. When
she finishes, she stands up and flushes. Walking over to the shower, Teagan
asks, “How long have you been in there?”

“I actually just got in here,” Kellen replies. He turns and gives her a
look. “Want to join me?”

Teagan smirks, “Could we do that and not end up having sex?”

“Sure,” Kellen says. “Come in here.”

“I don’t know,” Teagan mumbles shyly.

The glass door of the shower suddenly opens, and Kellen pulls her inside.
Teagan screams. Kellen laughs hysterically. “It’s time for you to get clean.”

With a playful glare, Teagan says, “Your shirt is soaked now. How are we
going to explain that to people?”

“I was wondering how I was going to ask your mom to sew the buttons back
on,” Kellen quips, pulling on the shirt.

“Oh my god!” Teagan yells. “Don’t you dare!”

He bursts out laughing. “I would never! We’re going to leave the shirt
here.”

“I kind of wanted to keep it,” Teagan mumbles.

“A piece of me to keep with you,” Kellen chuckles.

“Sort of,” Teagan whispers. “What happened between us…it means a lot to
me.”

“I know, Baby, me too,” Kellen says. “You can have anything of mine that
you want.”

Crossing her arms, Teagan asks, “What do you have to offer?”

Tilting his head to the side, Kellen says, “I have no idea. If you come
across something, let me know.”

“Okay.” Nervously, she undoes the two buttons and lets the shirt fall to
the floor.  Feeling bashful, she doesn’t look up at Kellen.

“Hey,” he says softly. “You can look at me.” He puts his finger under her
chin and lifts her head up. “Don’t ever feel like you need to be shy around
me.”

“I don’t have a whole bunch of liquor in me right now,” Teagan mumbles.

Taking a step back, Kellen asks, “Did last night happen because of the
liquor?”

“Well, sort of,” Teagan replies.

“Wow,” Kellen exhales, stepping farther back. “I didn’t know that. I
thought it meant something….”

“NO!” Teagan exclaims. “No! That’s not what I meant! The liquor made me
brave
!
I wanted to do all that. Oh please, don’t think that I didn’t.”

“Oh good,” Kellen exhales. “You were going to break my heart there.”

She stands up a little taller. “Break your heart?”

“Well yeah,” Kellen stutters. “What we did last night has to be the most
meaningful thing I have ever done.”

“Why do you say that?” Teagan asks, stepping up to him.

Kellen starts to take the pins out of her hair, letting the curls fall.
“I’ve never cared about anyone before.”

“What about your ex?” Teagan whispers. 

He continues to take the pins out. “I wasn’t with her because of
feelings. I tried, I really did, but that woman is like nails on a chalkboard
for me.”

“Then when why were you with her?” Teagan asks.

Taking in a deep breath, Kellen says, “I thought I was doing the right
thing.”

“Why do you say that?”

With a heavy sigh, Kellen replies, “It’s better if I show you versus tell
you, or maybe it’s better if I just told you. I don’t know. Let’s enjoy today.
I want that in case you decide to leave me.”

“I’m not going
anywhere
,” Teagan assures him. “I promise.”

Kellen sighs, pulling out the last pin. He runs his fingers through her
hair to loosen all the curls. “I want you to enjoy today, okay?”

“What’s the big secret?” Teagan inquires.

Looking into her eyes, Kellen says, “Tuesday, come over to my house after
class.”

“Okay,” Teagan giggles. “It’s a date.”

“We should actually go on some of those,” Kellen sighs happily. “That’s
if you want to.”

“Where are you going to take me?” Teagan asks, giving him a huge smile.

Kellen smiles back at her. “Wherever you want to go, and I mean
anywhere.”

“I’ll have to think about that. Now, we should shower. I probably smell.”

Bending over, Kellen sniffs her neck. Breathing out against her skin, he
whispers, “Nope, you still smell delicious.”

Teagan’s skin tingles under his breath. “Well then,” she exhales.

“Hmmm,” Kellen hums before kissing her gently. Teagan arches her neck to
give him easier access. “Enthusiastic?”

“Yes,” she breathes out.

“Good,” Kellen murmurs, pulling her to him. “Ready for some
fraternizing?” She starts to laugh and then gasps as his hands begin to wander.

*            
*            
*            
*             *

As Kellen puts their last suitcase in the trunk, he looks at Teagan. “I
think your mom likes me.”

“I think she would date you if she weren’t married to my stepdad,” Teagan
retorts.

“Sorry, I’m taken,” Kellen chirps as he shuts the lid.

Teagan raises her eyebrows. “You’re taken?”

“Well, that’s if everything works out on Tuesday,” Kellen states as he
walks to the driver side of the car. “Come on, let’s get going.”

She turns and walks to the passenger side. After Kellen climbs in, Teagan
mumbles, “Taken huh?” That makes her smile. “Awesome.”

They ride in comfortable silence before they pull up to Georgia and
Dwayne’s. Kellen looks at Teagan. “Do you think Dipshit will show up?”

“I can’t imagine that he would. He’s banged up pretty badly. It may cause
some problems.”       

“Only if he says it was me, but I doubt he will,” Kellen replies. “Who
really wants to admit they got their ass kicked by an MMA fighter?”

“True,” Teagan laughs. “We could always tell people it was me.”

Kellen gets a wicked grin on his face. “I think that’s the story that we
should stick with. That is much more embarrassing than it being me who broke
his face.”

Teagan sighs and shakes her head, “Come on, we’re late.”

“I wonder why,” Kellen teases. “Someone didn’t want to get out of the
shower,” he adds as he winks at her.

When they get inside, they find everyone in the living room. “We were
wondering if you were going to show up!” Georgia shouts joyfully.

“Sorry, we had to stop by my parents’,” Teagan declares, rolling her
eyes.

Kellen mumbles in her ear, “Sure, that’s why we’re late.” Teagan elbows
him in the side.

“Well, everyone’s here,” Georgia says with a satisfied smile. It is
obvious that her wedding night was everything she wanted and more after Teagan
and Kellen left the reception. “We’re one person down though.”

“Yeah,” Georgia’s mom interjects. “I feel so bad for Justin.”

Teagan instantly tenses up. Georgia looks over at her and raises an
eyebrow.  Dwayne chuckles and says, “Serves him right for drinking so
much.”

“What happened?” Teagan nonchalantly asks.

“He fell and bashed his face on the steps outside of his apartment,”
Dwayne laughs.  “He must have been really drunk because he had a hotel
room upstairs. I must not be very observant. I didn’t even know he was that
tipsy.” 

Georgia gives Teagan a look. Teagan shrugs her shoulders and points to
herself.  Rolling her eyes, Georgia coyly points at Kellen. Teagan
vigorously shakes her head, and points to herself. Georgia’s jaw drops. Teagan
shakes her hand and acts like she is in pain.  Georgia’s jaw drops even
more. A smile spreads across Teagan’s face and she shrugs again.

“Yeah, he broke his nose and fractured his cheekbone,” Dwayne tells
everyone.  “Justin must have face planted into the steps. They’re stone,
it makes sense.”

Kellen looks at Teagan and smirks. She does the same in return. “Well,
let’s get started,” Georgia’s mom exclaims. “Here’s the first gift.”

Two hours later, all the boxed gifts are open and there is gift wrap
strewn around the room. Teagan turns to Kellen, “You did get a present right?”

“Yeah,” Kellen replies. Speaking up, he says, “Our card is the one in the
red envelope.”

“Oh,” Georgia says. “Mom, can you grab it for me?”

“Sure.” Her mom hands it over.

Happily, Georgia rips it open and takes out the piece of paper. She looks
at it quizzically. “What is this?”

“Well, it’s a vacation,” Kellen states. “I wasn’t sure if you were going
on a honeymoon, but it’s a paid vacation to Hawaii. The airfare, hotel room,
car rental are all covered in the package.”

Georgia stares at the paper as it quakes in her trembling hands. Her face
is a mask of shock mixed with glee and a side of confusion. It takes her a
second before she shakes her head.  Georgia holds up the credit card
inside of it. “It’s all on this?”

“No, that’s six hundred dollars for food and such,” Kellen states.

“Dude,” Dwayne snaps, grabbing the piece of paper. “You are kidding,
right?”

“Not at all,” Kellen replies, swinging his arm around Teagan. “I picked
that hotel because the suites have incredible views of the ocean.”

“We can’t accept this,” Georgia gasps, looking at Kellen.

Shrugging his shoulders, Kellen says, “It’s nonrefundable.”

“What do you mean we can’t accept it? Of course we can accept it!” Dwayne
shouts.  “Holy crap guys, thanks! We were going to try and go somewhere in
the summer.”

“Well, you can go whenever you want,” Kellen declares. “You just need to
contact that travel agent. She is based out of Detroit.”

“Thank you!” Georgia exclaims. She runs over and wraps Kellen in her
arms, squeezing tight. “Thank you so much.”

He hugs her back and says, “No problem.”

Georgia turns to Teagan. “Did you have anything to do with this?”

“I won’t lie, no, I had no idea,” Teagan laughs. “Are you happy that I
left it up to Kellen?”

“Hell yeah!” Dwayne high fives Kellen. “Thanks, man!”

  Kellen reaches over and squeezes Teagan’s knee. “I am glad that it
made you happy, guys,” Kellen chuckles. He looks down at his watch and says,
“Hey, we have to go. We have to return the car at the airport.”

“Awww,” Georgia whines. “Are you guys going to come back soon?”

“I don’t know,” Teagan replies. “I wanted to for Christmas, but I will
have to see how much money I can save between now and then.”

“We’ll try and come back over the holidays,” Kellen interjects. “We would
love to see you guys.”

Clapping her hands, Georgia says, “Perfect!”

They get up and say their good byes. When they get into the car, Teagan
turns to Kellen. “So, overall, how was this weekend for you?”

“I would have to say this has been one of the best weekends in years. I
mean, we finally came clean with each other. We had a wonderful night last
night. I got to meet your friends and your awesome parents.”

“Plus, you beat up Justin,” Teagan quips.

“That was definitely a perk,” Kellen chuckles. “Did you enjoy it?”

“Like you have no idea,” Teagan sighs relieved. “Thank you for last night
and this morning.”

He gives her a devilish smirk, “I’m happy that I could give you a proper
introduction.”

“That was definitely an introduction,” Teagan giggles. She leans over and
kisses him on the cheek. “Now, I have to wait in anticipation to find out what
the big secret is on Tuesday.”

The smiles on Kellen’s face falters a little. “Yeah, we’ll see how
Tuesday goes.”

“Whatever it is, I’m not leaving you,” Teagan states softly.

“I hope not,” Kellen exhales, as he pulls away from the curb.

*            
*            
*            
*             *

Later that night, they are back at his house. “Do you want to stay over?”

With a glint in her eyes, Teagan inquires, “Do you have protection here?”

Kellen looks down and says, “Yes.”

“Then, HELL YEAH, I’m staying,” Teagan exclaims.

He shakes his head. “I won’t do that until I know you want to see this
through because I don’t want to share that moment with you and then you leave
me.”

“I didn’t realize it meant that much to you,” Teagan whispers in awe.

“Of course,” Kellen replies back softly. He puts his hands on the sides
of her face.  “You mean so much to me. That is the greatest act we can
share. I wouldn’t want that to happen and then have you walk away. It would
break my heart.”

“That’s really…..deep,” Teagan says.

“So, can you stay with me even though I want to wait a few more days?”

Teagan gives him a small smile. “I want to say yes, but I don’t think I
can control myself. You have opened Pandora’s box.”

Narrowing his eyes, Kellen tries not to laugh. “I’m not saying anything.”
He kisses her gently. “I’ll miss you.”