Page 11 of Raise 'Em Up

Donny snorts out a laugh and Mateo glares harder. “And you're a fucking brat.”

Is it fucked up that my heart soars at his words? God, I missed them. “You need to work on your flirting, Teo.”

“Enough stalling, Rylee. What the fuck is going on?”

Sighing, I slide down Donny’s body and stand. But he doesn’t let me go far, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me to his body. “Come to my hotel room. I’ll fill you in on everything.”

CHAPTER FIVE

We all sit on the couch across from Rylee, waiting for her to tell us what's been going on. Donny’s leg bounces, and I know he wishes he could be next to her. As do I. . I just want to touch her, hold her, tell her how much I love her and have missed her. That no matter what's going on, all she ever has to do is tell us and we’ll be there for her.

“Spit it out,” Mateo growls.

“Okay, that's enough,” I snap. “I get that we’re all on edge. But I’ve had enough of the way you’ve been talking to our girl.”

Mateo shoots me a glare, but doesn’t say anything else.

“Thank you, Colton,” Rylee says, but she’s shooting daggers at Mateo while she speaks. “To sum it up, the Dean showed up at my dorm. Someone framed me, probably his daughter, and filled my locker full of steroids. He expelled me, and when I tried to fight him, he pulled out his phone and threatened to expose us all.”

“Expose us? What does that even mean?” Lennox asks.

“It means that the Dean got his hands on the video my slimy fucking ex has of us. Dean Kondum was going to use it, share it with the world. And seeing as how you all had more to lose than I did, I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

“I’m going to fucking kill them,” Lennox growls. “The both of them. I knew the Dean was bad fucking news, but now? Now he’s gone too far.”

“Did you just decide on your own to play hero and dip the fuck out?” Mateo snarls. “We are in a relationship, Rylee. That means we are there for each other. How the fuck are we supposed we get through things like this if you don’t even talk to us? As much as I want to rip that fucker’s dick off and make him choke on it, you should have come to us!”

Rylee jumps to her feet. “It’s not like I could when the fucker was breathing down my neck. He made me write that note, he watched me pack my bags. He called me a fucking cab and forced me to get into it, making sure it went to the airport. He told me he would know if I didn’t get on the plane… So, I was afraid. That man is powerful. What else should I have done?!”

“Called us!” Mateo shouts.

“He took my fucking phone,” Rylee shouts back. The two of them are nose to nose, chests heaving, looking like they’re about to fight or fuck. Maybe both?

“Enough.” Standing, I get between the two of them. I turn to Rylee, and in a soft voice, I ask her, “Why didn’t you call us when you got here?”

She lets out a heavy sigh and runs a hand through her red hair. “Because. I was tired, I wanted some time to get my head around everything that was going on. Only for me to walk into my mom’s place and find dear old dad there.”

“Wait, what?” Donny asks, looking at her confused.

“Yeah.” She lets out a laugh. “To add the cherry on top of this shitty cake, it turns out I’ve got a dad. Well, of course, I’ve always had a dad, but I know who he is now. And here’s the kicker, it turns out, the old dude who owns this hotel—” she holds her hands up, “—is my dear old granddad. Yeah, my dad is the son of a billionaire. Fun, huh.”

“Wow,” Donny whispers.

“Yeah. So, sorry if my mind has been elsewhere. My plan was to wake up after a very shitty sleep, have something to eat, and then do some thinking. Then my new father showed up asking to talk, that's when I saw you, and you know the rest.”

“That's a lot to take in,” Lennox says.

“You think?” She gives him a blank look.

“So, you didn’t leave us?” I ask her.

“No.” Her face softens.

“You still want to be with us?” Donny asks.

“Of course I do. I love you guys. I wouldn’t just leave you like that.”

“I’m pissed at you,” Mateo mutters, but the heat is no longer there. “If we’re going to do this, we need to be a team.”

---