Tear Down These Walls (23 page)

“You think I can’t dance,” Trent asks her, his eyes hard. Teagan smirks
and shakes her head. Abruptly, she is pulled into Trent’s arms, and he takes
her onto the dance floor.  He starts moving to the music, and Teagan
realizes he can dance, and dance well. He spins her out and back again. Teagan
runs her hands up his chiseled chest and then wraps them around his neck. They
press up against each other and dance through the crowd. Teagan feels everything
in her tense up. It has been a long time since a guy has touched her, and it
never felt like this. Justin never made her feel this way. Every inch of her is
tingling in pleasure and anticipation of what pleasures could potentially be
coming.

The heat from Trent comes through her dress as he moves his hands around
her. It makes Teagan’s pulse race and her breath quicken. They dance to the
music, feeling each other’s bodies pressed together. It is the most sensual
thing that Teagan has ever felt. Trent makes her feel things she never has
before. A yearning starts to grow in her, making her press up against him more.

Finally, Trent whispers, “Teagan,” in a breathy tone. She looks up at
him. His eyes hold the same heat that she is feeling. Every inch of her wants
to kiss him, every inch, but then the fear comes. The fear of what he could do
to her, the fear of the pain that could come if she lets herself feel, allows
herself to fall. Teagan quickly lets go and steps back. Trent instantly says,
“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Teagan replies, running her fingers through her hair. “I just
need to take a break.”

Trent brings his hand up and traces his fingers down the side of her
face. “Is that really it?”

Forcing a smile on her face, Teagan says, “Yeah, come on. There are more
shots to be had.” She grabs his hand and leads him off the dance floor. They
get to the table, to find everyone drinking bottled water.

“We needed something other than liquor,” Emily declares. “We were parched
from dancing so much.”

Teagan grabs a bottle of water. “Yeah, me too.”

“You guys looked like you were having fun out there,” Victoria slyly
says. “Trent can sure dance.”

“Yup,” Teagan exhales. “It was fun. It sure surprised me.”

“I actually love to dance,” Trent states. “Especially with such a
beautiful woman.”

“Awwww!” Victoria exclaims.

Moving her gaze to Trent, Teagan looks at him. He is staring back at her
with that heat still in his eyes. She nervously looks away. Michael finally
says, “Is the birthday girl having a good birthday?”

“Totally,” Teagan replies with a grin.

“I say it’s time for another shot,” Michael declares, picking up one of
his. Everyone joins him. “To Teagan!” They all down their shots and put the
glasses back on the table.

“Drink some more water,” Trent whispers in Teagan’s ear. “I don’t want
you to get sick.”

“Okay,” Teagan giggles. She takes a sip of water and looks at Trent. The
desire she was feeling starts to boil up again, and she doesn’t know how to
fight it.

Trent stares at her and then murmurs, “What do you want to do now?”

She gulps and replies, “So much.”

He stares at her for a second and is about to say something, when Teagan
hears, “I want one dance with the birthday girl. You guys have to share at some
point.”

Both Trent and Teagan look across the table. Isaac is staring at them.
“Oh,” Teagan chirps. “Ummmm.”

“One dance,” Isaac retorts with a frustrated look on his face.

“Sure,” Teagan says.

“Excellent.”  Isaac comes around the table and sticks out his hand.
Teagan hesitantly looks at it, not wanting to hurt Isaac’s feelings.

“Keep your hands in appropriate places,” Trent articulates.

Isaac’s eyes widen. “Yeah, of course man.” A little nervous, Isaac pulls
Teagan out onto the dance floor. She follows him reluctantly. When they get into
the crowd, Isaac turns her around and pulls her against him. It isn’t as close
as Trent, but it’s a little too close for Teagan. As they start to dance, she
takes a step back. Isaac doesn’t seem to notice, which makes Teagan really
happy. They dance, but halfway through the song, Teagan’s head starts to get
cloudy. She stumbles a little and falls into Isaac. He grins and starts to move
with her more. Teagan shakes her head to try and clear it up a little. It
doesn’t help. Isaac starts to run his hands up her back.

“No,” Teagan whispers, pulling away from him, but Isaac holds onto her.

“Teagan, I need to say something,” he replies. He pulls her close, and
Teagan looks up at him. She can’t think straight. He looks at her and bends his
head down.

“No,” Teagan barely gasps, but her voice is smothered by the loud music.

Isaac doesn’t stop, and his lips are quickly on hers. Teagan starts to
freak out. Fear boils to the surface, but her head is too cloudy to think
straight. She starts to push against Isaac. He stops kissing her and says,
“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t,” Teagan whimpers. “Let go of me.”

He doesn’t release her but says, “Teagan, what’s wrong?”

Teagan starts to panic, and she can’t breathe. Suddenly, she is pulled
away from Isaac. “What in the hell did I say to you!?” Trent snaps at Isaac.

Turning to Trent, Teagan grabs him. “I can’t…I can’t,” she cries.

“Damn it,” Trent growls. “Come on.” He grabs Teagan’s hand.

She doesn’t move. “I can’t, I can’t breathe.” Instantly, she is up in
Trent’s arms.  Teagan lays her head against him as he carries her through
the bar.

When they get outside, Trent takes her around a corner. Finally, he stops
and says, “Can you stand?” Not replying, Teagan stays pressed up against him.
“Teagan baby, can you stand?” She jerkily nods her head. Ever so slowly, Trent
sets her on her feet. “Are you okay?”  He runs his hand down her back.

“He was touching me,” Teagan stutters. “He wouldn’t let me go. I couldn’t
move. I got scared.”

“I know,” Trent replies, quickly taking his hand away.

“No!” Teagan cries. “You can touch me.” She steps up to him and lays her
head on his chest. “Please, just….”

Trent wraps his arms around her and holds her against him. “It’s okay,
just take deep breaths.” Teagan complies.

They hear, “Are you okay!?” and turn to see Emily and Victoria. Victoria
again asks, “Are you all right!?”

“I can’t,” Teagan whispers. “After Justin, I can’t…”

“I know,” Victoria exhales. “He didn’t know, Teagan. He didn’t mean
anything.”

Trent snarls, “I told him to watch himself. She can’t handle it.”

“You know!?” Victoria exclaims.

“Yeah. She told me.”

“I can’t…oh god….I’m so messed up,” Teagan cries, putting her head in her
hands. “God, I am going to be alone for the rest of my life.” She starts to
bawl.

“That’s not true,” Emily murmurs, running her hand down Teagan’s head.
“You will meet someone.”

Angry, Teagan yells, “How!?  I can’t even dance with a guy without
having a panic attack!” Everyone gets quiet, and both Victoria and Emily look
at Trent. Teagan realizes what she just said, and it makes something go off in
her head. “I mean….Trent is different. I trust him,” she stammers. “I
mean…..god….I need to go home.”

“We will take you,” Emily replies. “We will call a cab right now.”

“No, take the limo. I will get the guys home,” Trent says. “It’s around
the corner.”

“Okay, come on, Teagan” Emily whispers, taking Teagan from Trent’s arms.
“Let’s get you home.”

“Yeah,” Teagan sniffles. Emily puts her arm around her shoulders, and she
starts to lead Teagan away.

“Her keys are with the driver,” Trent declares. “I didn’t want us to lose
them.”

Victoria says, “Okay. Have a good night.”

“Yeah,” Trent exhales.

Teagan turns around. “Thank you.”

“Just go home and rest,” Trent says. “We will talk this week.”

She nods and then walks away. The girls lead her to the limo. The driver
gets out.  Victoria looks at him. “Will you take us back to her house?
Trent is catching a cab.”

“Very well,”  Gregory replies, as they get in. He shuts the door and
gets in to drive.  “The apartment I picked you up from, correct?”

“Yeah,” Teagan sniffles.

“Do you have one of those privacy things in here?” Victoria asks.

“Yes, of course ma’am,” Gregory says. In a second, the black glass cuts
them off from the front.

“How are you doing, honey?” Victoria whispers to Teagan.

“The guys are going to think I am an absolute freak!” Teagan exclaims.

“No, we will pass it off that you were really drunk,” Emily reassures
her. “It will be fine.”

“I am really drunk!” Teagan yells and laughs.

“I do have to say, I’m surprised that you told the whole story about
Justin to Trent,” Victoria states. “Really surprised.”

Throwing her hands up, Teagan shouts, “I don’t know why, but I told him
the first time we had lunch!”

“Seriously? Wow.”

“That’s why he is going to Michigan with me. He doesn’t want Justin to
come within a hundred feet of me.”

Emily nods her head. “Good, that guy deserves to get the shit kicked out
of him.”

“He has done so much harm,” Teagan cries. “I don’t know how I’ll ever get
over what he did.”

“You need to forget him,” Emily retorts. “He’s an asshole.”

Teagan starts to fiddle with the hem or her dress. “I am never going to
trust anyone again.”

She senses Emily looking at Victoria. “I hate to mention this,” Emily
starts. “But you do trust Trent. You just admitted it.”

Not saying anything for a minute, Teagan finally whispers, “I know. I
do.”

“That means something!” Victoria exclaims. “He’s a wonderful guy.”

“But it’s not like that with us,” Teagan groans. “We’re just friends.”

Victoria bursts out laughing. “That’s not how two friends dance together.
I need to get me some more guy friends if that is the case!”

“Shut up,” Teagan mumbles, though she is trying not to smile.

“Oh, come here,” Victoria giggles, pulling Teagan close. “It’s okay if you
like Trent.  No one would blame you. He seems like a great guy.”

“But I promised it wasn’t going to be that way. He doesn’t want it to be
that way. We are just friends and we will stay friends.”

“All right,” Victoria exhales. “I will say this, you can’t stop yourself
from falling for someone if you’re already on the spiral down.”

“Yes, I can,” Teagan replies. “It will just take some effort.”

“Whatever,” Victoria laughs, hugging her close. “You keep telling
yourself that.”

All three girls giggle and then are silent all the way to Teagan’s
apartment. When they get there, Teagan looks at Victoria. “I’m going upstairs
by myself. I just want to take a shower and get into bed.”

“Are you sure?” Victoria asks, wanting to protect her best friend. “We
can come up there and sit with you.”

“No, I want to be alone,” Teagan sighs. “I just need to get out of this
and into some comfy clothes.”

“Try to take some Tylenol and drink some water before you go to sleep.”

“Yes ma’am,” Teagan snickers. She scoots forward and knocks on the
privacy glass.  Gregory rolls down the window. “Can I have my keys
please?”

“Yes,” he says. He holds them up. “Mr. Grayson wanted me to hold onto
them for you.”

“Thank you,” Teagan replies. She turns around to her friends. “Thank you
for such a nice birthday. Despite everything that just happened, I had a really
great time tonight.”

Emily hands over an envelope. “Don’t forget Michael’s present.”

“Oh, I won’t. I need that,” Teagan snorts. “Talk to you guys tomorrow,
okay?”

“Are you going to be able to make it upstairs on your own?” Victoria
asks.

“I’m drunk, but I can walk,” Teagan laughs. “But to make sure.” She
undoes the ribbons on her shoes and slides them off. “There, no tripping and
dying.”

“Okay.” Victoria smiles. “Call us in the morning.”

“I will, bye,” Teagan says, hugging her and then Emily. “Talk to you guys
tomorrow.”

“Bye!” Her friends yell as she gets out of the car.

Teagan slowly walks to her door. She fumbles with the keys but finally
makes it inside. To her frustration, she realizes she has to walk to the third
floor. With a heavy exhale, Teagan starts up the stairs. When she finally gets
to her door, she’s exhausted. She unlocks the deadbolt and then the regular
lock.

She practically falls into her apartment. Teagan kicks the door shut and
falls onto the floor. “This feels nice,” she whispers, rubbing the carpet
before she passes out. An hour or so later, knocking awakens Teagan. She rolls
over and rubs her eyes. It’s still nighttime, but she doesn’t know what time.
There’s knocking again. “WHAT!?” She yells.

There is a pause, and then she hears Trent say, “You’re up?”

“I wasn’t, but now I am,” Teagan grumbles. “The door’s open.”

Trent opens the door and then looks down at her. “What in the hell are
you doing on the floor?”

“I was sleeping,” Teagan moans, rolling over on her side. “That’s what I
would like to be doing right now.”

“You aren’t going to sleep on the floor,” Trent sighs. He walks in and
shuts the door.  “Come on, get up.”

“No,” Teagan mumbles, putting her head on her arms. “I am going to
sleep.”

She is picked up off the floor into Trent’s arms. “Have you been on the
floor this whole time?”

“Mmmhmmmm,” Teagan hums, putting her head on his shoulder. “So sleepy.”

“Let’s get you into bed,” Trent snorts. He carries her into her room and
lays Teagan on the bed. “Why am I always carrying you to bed when you are
drunk?”

“Because you secretly want to get into bed with me,” Teagan giggles, as
she lies down on her pillow.

“You have no idea,” Trent mutters.

“What’d you say?” Teagan asks softly.

“Nothing,” Trent replies. He pulls the blanket over her.

“Nuh uh, you said you wanted to get into bed with me,” Teagan exhales, as
she rolls over.