Page 53 of Raise 'Em Up

“I work out, but I’m working towards tackling six-foot-tall men, not lifting them.” Trevor grins.

“I mean, I do it,” Mateo says with a shit-eating grin as he brings his gaze over to Lennox.

And my man blushes. Ugh, they are too cute.

“Fuck off.” Lennox flips Mateo off.

“Any and all fucking must be done after practice,” Colt says firmly as we reach the gym.

“Shoot.” Donny grins. “There goes my idea of fucking Cherry on the cheer mats.”

“Oh, there's an idea.” I grin back.

“No!” Colt scolds, sending us all into another fit of laughter. It’s fun to tease him when he's so wound up.

I’m the first one to step into the building. But as soon as I put my foot down, I jump back. “What the fuck?!” I look down at my wet foot, then at the floor. “Is that… Is that water?”

“Shit!” Colton hisses as he peeks inside. We stay outside as he goes in, stepping in the water. He comes back, eyes furious. “A fucking pipe burst. The whole place is flooded.”

“I’ll get maintenance on the phone,” Mateo says, pulling his phone out.

“Let's go around back and shut the water off,” Lennox tells Donny.

“Hey. What's going on?” Serenity asks as she walks toward us, Felicia and Fatima beside her.

“The whole building is flooded.” I sigh, looking at Colt. “Do we just cancel practice?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “We can’t. We need every moment we can get. Missing practice time that we need to use to get this routine right puts us at risk of losing.”

“Well, we can’t practice in there.” I sigh. “Is there anywhere else on campus we could use?”

Colt shrugs. “I don’t know. Most of the gyms are booked up by other teams months in advance.”

“We could do it out here,” Felicia suggests.

Colt shoots her a look. “The dancing, yes, but we can’t toss anyone into the damn air without any mats. That's risking a broken limb.”

“Maintenance is on their way,” Mateo fills us in after he gets off the phone.

Lennox and Donny join us, looking a little wet. “We managed to get the water off, but the whole place is flooded.”

“Worst possible fucking time,” Colt growls. “Fine. Fuck it. We can practice out on the lawn.”

“Oh.” Serenity pulls something out of her cheer bag. “I have a Bluetooth speaker we can hook up for the music.”

“And I have an extra pair of shoes you can borrow, Rylee,” Fatima says, pulling a pair out of her bag and handing them to me.

“Thanks.” I smile. “I’m sure I could have survived, but having one wet foot and one dry feels really weird.”

The girls laugh. We start heading toward the grass, but Colton doesn’t move. He looks like he’s fuming, and I hate seeing him like this.

“No need to go all cheerzilla on us,” Mateo says. “There's nothing we can do about it, okay? Better to make the best out of a shitty situation than sit here pouting about it.”

I shoot Mateo’s back a glare as he walks off. I want to run up to him and slap him for being such a dick.

Colton’s hands fist at his side, jaw clenched and nostrils flaring. “Hey, don’t let him get to you. He’s just in a shitty mood because of his bad grade.”

“They don’t get it,” Trevor says, stepping up next to us. “Colton is in charge of a whole team of people. He’s the one who makes everything work. He watches and observes, and then makes a play on what’s going to get your team the gold. I understand, being in charge of a football team isn’t easy shit. And with you guys going to Regionals soon, this practice time is crucial. I know they’re trying to make the best out of the situation, but telling Colt to get over it is easier said than done.”

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