Page 72 of Raise 'Em Up

The National Cheer Association has strict rules that we must follow, even for college teams.

It is a little less daunting than high school requirements, but nevertheless, piercings and tats aren't allowed.

“Hey, Colt, you okay?” I ask the moment he kicks his shoes off and throws his keys into the bowl by the door, missing it completely, then takes off into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Gently rolling off the side of the couch, I get to my feet, wrapping an arm around my bandaged ribs. They aren't broken, just bruised.

“Hey, baby, what happened?” I ask Ry as she enters the apartment.

Her face is pale and she looks exhausted.

“Um, Colton got some rough news today. He just needs some time to process. I texted you.”

“My phone is off. Len ran to the store to grab some snacks, and Donny is at the park with Cobbler.”

I wince as I reach for her and she raises her brow at me, pursing her lips. Damn, she's sexy.

“Mateo Russo, sit your ass down, right now!” she orders and I laugh.

“Let me use the bathroom before you go all dominatrix on me,” I mutter, walking that way.

I want to find out what's going on with Colt and cuddle with my girl. She's been babying me the past few days, but I'm not made of glass.

I got my ass kicked because my uncle was a sadistic bastard, but karma got him in the end. A few more days of rest and I'll be good as new.

I quickly use the bathroom, then wash my hands and go back into the living room. Rylee is staring at the wall and doesn't notice me.

“How bad is it?” I ask, before taking a seat next to her on the couch.

Sighing, she turns, leaning against the arm of the sofa. “I need you to promise that if I tell you something, you won't jump up and freak out. You're still recovering.”

“Damn, babe.” I keep my mask in place, but now I'm starting to freak out. Colton hasn't had an easy life, but he is the most stable one of our group.

I take a deep breath and nod. Rylee stares at me for a few seconds, then whispers, “As part of her recovery, his mom has to make amends and talk about why she started using in the first place. It turns out, she's known who killed his sister all along… It was your uncle, Mateo. Alvero raped and murdered her.”

“What?” I gasp. Not caring about my ribs, I stand then rush to Colt's door. I don't bother knocking.

I find him sitting on his bed, holding the photo of him and his sister, crying. Moving over to his side, I grab his arm and pull him into a tight hug.

“I'm so sorry, Colt. I… I don't know what to say, except, if he was still alive, I'd kill him.”

Rylee clears her throat in the doorway and she wipes her tears. “Yeah, about that… Why didn't anyone tell me that your uncle died? He was a shit person, but last I heard, Lennox was calling your cousin to sort everything, then nothing.”

“Wasn't a secret, baby girl. We just didn't want to make you an accomplice. I hate that it took two phone calls to get the job done. Sadly, we’re not the reason he’s dead, though. I didn’t get the details, but from what I’ve been told, he did some pretty fucked-up shit to his girl, and like me, that sort of shit doesn’t fly with Link. He did us all a favor.”

From my understanding, she’s still alive. Link had been hesitant to end him for years now. Whatever he did to her had to be bad enough to force his hand sooner than Link planned. I wanted him dealt with a long time ago, and part of me can't help wondering if his girl would have been fine if Link had just ended him the first time I called.

Moving into the room, Rylee joins our group hug, kissing Colt on the back of his head.

“I think we need to find where he's buried and piss on his grave,” she mutters, and even though the moment doesn't call for laughter, I burst out, chuckling until there's tears in my eyes.

“I'll call Link.”

“Are we really about to do this?” Donny asks with a huge grin on his face. He hated my uncle as much as me.

“Yeah, the fucker deserves it,” Len grunts. He hasn't said much, and I know he's struggling. One of us is hurting, so we all hurt.

It took us a few days, but now we're here, up in the mountains. Black Ridge is a bit of a drive from campus, so we decided to get a hotel for the weekend.

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