Page 48 of Raise 'Em Up

“Why wouldn't she? Every woman wants to be treated like a princess,” Don says with a yawn.

I want to laugh in response, but I also don’t want to piss him off. Our girl literally got arrested for fucking one of her boyfriends in the back seat of a car, and was on cloud nine about it, and Donny is worried about treating her like a princess. I mean, if it makes him feel better, sure, but Rylee is a simple girl. You can’t buy her love.

He's cracking his jaw and blinking a lot. It's not even nine pm. “I like the dinner idea and the beach, but everything else can wait for another day,” I decide, and all the guys agree with me, except Donny.

“But I wanted to swim with dolphins,” he says with a pout and I laugh.

“Next birthday, we will all go swimming with the dolphins. But locally. We're not flying to Hawaii,” I mutter, and he gives me a huge smile.

“Deal?” I ask him, and he leans forward to bump my fist.

“Deal.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Ithink I burnt them,” Serenity says with a pout as she pulls the cookies out of the oven.

“I’m sure they're fine,” Felicia mutters, grabbing one off the pan and holding it up. My nose crinkles as I see black covering the bottom.

“Yeah, totally fine.” Ursula picks one up and taps it against the counter, wincing when it makes a hard banging sound.

“I followed the recipe.” Serenity sighs. “I’m sorry, girls.”

“No issue,” I tell her, hopping down off the counter where I was sitting. “We still have all these to decorate.” I stand in front of the table where all the cookies we made before are cooling.

It’s the weekend before Valentine's Day, but we’re celebrating with everyone beforehand. The guys suggested that me and Serenity host a cheer team building night. Which is pretty much a sleepover of sorts, so we can bond.

For the most part, it’s been fun.

The music is playing, some girls are setting a few things up for the party tomorrow night, and others are helping with the cookies. We’re all dressed in cute pink, red, and white PJs that Donny bought for all the girls. He’s a frigging sweetheart.

“That's not going to be enough for the party tomorrow,” Ursula says, reaching for a cookie.

Serenity slaps her hand away. “Not if you keep eating them, there won’t be.”

“There would be enough to eat if yours weren’t hard as a damn rock,” Ursula sneers.

“Alright! That's enough.” I step between them. “I thought we’re supposed to be the ones who have issues with each other.”

“Oh, I still hate you.” She eyes me up. “But your bestie is a close second.”

“Look, I get it, your leader is gone, and now you feel lost and don’t know what to do. But hey, maybe try being a decent human being and not a raging ‘C-U-Next-Tuesday.’ Maybe if you actually try to get to know us, you’ll see we’re not as bad as she’s made you believe.”

Ursula just sneers and flips me off before turning around and leaving the kitchen.

“Don’t worry about her,” Fatima says. “She might be a lost cause.”

“As long as she doesn’t become Missi 2.0, I’ll deal.”

“I don’t get why she’s so mad to see her go. Trust me, the rest of us are more than happy,” Felicia admits with a smile.

“It just means there's no one sneaking around and fucking our guys behind our backs anymore,” Lucy, one of the girls who doesn’t talk too often, adds. “It’s why I was never around except for practice, or when it was time to sleep. She would corner me and taunt me. It’s like she was a damn stalker. She always seemed to know who I was dating and loved to show me photos of her kissing them, or being close and intimate with them.”

“She’s really a fucking whack job.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with that. She loved to act like Lennox was hers. It’s not fun hearing about what your boyfriend’s dick feels like in another woman.”

“Ouch,” Lucy says, eyes widening in horror.

“It’s fine.” I wave her off. “She’s gone, and hopefully, she's not going to be an issue anymore. I may continue to scope out every room before I enter, just to be sure though. PTSD.”

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