Page 37 of Strong Side

Warmth blooms in my chest, and I smile. “Me too. It definitely wasn’t the game plan, but I’m starting to think everything is working out the way it was supposed to.”

“Rockwell has always been such a serious boy. He seems… different. Happier. Lighter. I think I can thank you for that.” Her hip bumps into mine.

“You raised a great son. Truly. Rocky is…” Rocky is so many things. Amazing. Talented. Beautiful. Smart. Intuitive. But the one word I can think that summarizes it all is—“He’s really special. He means a lot to me.”

She rests her hand on top of mine just as I’m about to grab the baking soda. “O amor não tem lei.”

My eyes start to sting as I look down at her. She doesn’t delve deeper into the subject. Instead, she justsmiles and goes about her tasks as I do mine. We busy ourselves with light conversation. Her asking me about my childhood, and me asking about hers in Brazil. I’m fully aware that I could ask her about Rocky when he was a child, and with any luck there will be time for that down the road, but right now I want to learn more about the woman who raised Rocky. What better chance than to ask her myself?

I try to pay as close attention as possible to her words as we scoop balls of dough onto cookie sheets, but her words continue to ring through my mind.

“O amor não tem lei.”

And as I watch Rocky walk through the deck door with his dad, plate of steaks in hand, and a smile a mile wide, I realize I couldn’t agree more.

1. Conversations In The Dark - John Legend

23

Lieutenant Lil

Rockwell

We’ve spent the last couple of days with my parents, enjoying spring break, showing Clay the city I grew up in, and eating our hearts out with all the home-cooked meals we could want. Clay has been so peaceful compared to how wound up he usually is at school. It makes me tear up thinking about how much stress his family causes him… especially his dick head of a father. I think he needed this time with my family more than I did.

It makes me even more thankful for the parents my soul was brought to; then Clay’s soul aligned with my path, no matter how hard I fought it in thebeginning… so I could show him what the true meaning of family and unconditional love is.

Clay’s dad, Charles, constantly reminds Clay that the only reason Clay is as talented as he is, is because of him, saying Clay would have never gotten anywhere if it weren’t for his genes or money. Like all of that makes up for acting like an arrogant, egotistical asshole and being an absent father. What a fucking joke. It’s no wonder Clay has such a hard time hearing how incredible he is, he’s never even heard it from the two people that should shower him with love and praise unconditionally. I couldn’t imagine bringing a child into this world, looking at them, and only thinking about what that child could do to make me look better. For his entire life, Clay’s every feeling, thought, and desire has been shoved to the side in order to accomplish the goal of being Charles Aldrich’s son. Not justClay.

Both of us are cuddled up in my bed, still not fully awake, watchingEmily in Paris, per his orders. He about stroked out when I said I hadn’t seen it… Like, I would’ve ever watched this shit on my own. It is funny as fuck, even though I would never admit that to him. His head is lying on my shoulder, his leg slung over the top of mine, and I’m skating my fingers over his back.

??1I push off getting up for as long as possible. I’m way too content with Clay beside me in my bed.

As if she knows I feel at peace, Lil comes barreling into my room, yelling, “Up! Let’s go run some drills, ladies!”

“Can you fucking knock, Lil? Goddamn.” Clay’s instantly sitting up with his back up against the wall.

“Language!” I hear Mom yell from the living room. “Goddamn” is her least favorite cuss word but one of my favorites.

With the most exhausted voice, I tell my annoying little sister, “Out. We’ll be ready in a minute.”

We agreed to go to the beach today to run some drills with my dad and Lil, knowing I'd also be able to shoot content for a couple of brand contracts I have while we're there, but I figured it would be later on… I should’ve known better with her. She’s always been a morning person.

Climbing out of bed, I slide on one my favorite pairs of black shorts that make my ass look out of this world and my American Dad crop that I cut up myself with Rodgers on the front dressed in one of his many get-ups. Clay throws on some matchingshorts, and fuck, I can’t keep my eyes off his thighs and that lean waist of his. He chooses a normal T-shirt, clearly deciding to be boring today.

We walk into the living room, and my dad and Lil are standing at the door, ready to go, but not before we’re forced to put on sunscreen. Having a sister who’s obsessed with skin and skincare can be annoying sometimes, but I guess we won’t croak over from skin cancer, so that’s something. After ten minutes of lathering ourselves in sunscreen we all pile into the car for the short drive over to the beach.

I catch myself staring at Clay way too often, especially while we’re both stretching out on the sand court. The beach is only a short ten minutes away from the house, but that didn’t stop Clay from snuggling up to me in the back seat while my dad drove and Lil rode shotgun.Still fully checking him out, I bend at the hip, making sure my hamstrings are nice and loose, ensuring I’m warmed up since it’s been a minute since we played last. We’re used to practicing daily, but since we haven’t been moving these past couple of days like we normally do, not stretching properly is asking for a torn muscle, and we sure as fuck don’t need that.

“Come on, ladies! Let’s get a move on! I’m trying to get some hits in.” Lord, she’s on one today.

Lil played volleyball throughout school. Although she could easily have gone to a D1 college, her true passion was pursuing being an esthetician. Volleyball was her one love for so long, I know she misses it more than she’ll admit. I hate that we’re a whole country apart, and playing together isn’t an option—even if that does look like us just playing pick-up on the beach.

My dad and Lil are on the other side of the net, and Clay looks at me like he’s asking, “should we take it easy on them”? He clearly hasn’t picked up on the competitive nature of my whole family.

My dad’s a big man and scares the shit out of most people, but then he opens his mouth and that’s when you find out he’s just a softy deep down. He’s six-three and bulky, pretty much a spitting image of me without the dark complexion that I got from my momma.

My dad chuckles. “Go ahead and start deflating those egos.” He’s up at the net, holding the ball, and my sister is on the left side, looking ready to murder us.

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