Page 57 of Strong Side

Not wasting a second, I fist the front of his shirt and kiss him backwith everything I have. He snakes one hand around to the back of my head, threading his fingers through my hair just the way I like, and I moan into his mouth. He smiles against my lips and starts to soften the kiss, likely not wanting to get to carried away.

Jax and Lil are cheering with joy in the background while I hear Joe and Cassandra scream, “I knew it!” at the exact same time. Rocky and I both chuckle as we rest our foreheads against one another, gasping for breath. Quietly he says, “You brought them here.”

“I brought them here.”

“For me.” It’s not a question but a statement. As if he’s now truly realizing the depths I will go for him.

“For you, Baby.”

With our heads still pressed together, his eyes shine with the desire to say something. To say the words I’ve been dying to hear, and my heart feels like it stills in my chest. As if it’s dying of starvation and all it needs to beat again is those three little words. “Clay, I—”

“What the hell is this?”

My hands fall from Rocky’s shirt, and our faces part as the murderous voice I just heard registers in my brain.

He would be here. He would ruin this moment for me.

I step around Rocky as if I were shielding him from my dad’s disgusted glare. He knew I was bisexual, and I knew he wasn’t crazy about it, but if the look on his face is anything to go by, he’s more than not okay with it than I thought.

Not even sparing him with a greeting, I ask, “What are you doing here?”

“You haven’t been answering my calls.” Rocky stiffens behind me as if that fact came as a shock to him. But it’s true; I haven’t spoken to my dad since the day of my panic attack. After that day I realized just how severely he negatively impacted my life. I’ve had him as a father for the last twenty-two years. And while it’s true he hasn’t always been as bad as he is today, those twenty-two years have accumulated to nothing but unyielding anxiety, doubts, and the desire to have the love in my life I know I deserve.

And over the span ofone week, a family I had only just met, showered me with that love and then some. They made me feel wanted… cherished… whole.Rockymakes me feel whole. That is what a family should be. That is whatloveshould be.

I cross my arms across my heaving chest, not providing him an explanation as to why I haven’t picked up the phone, so he continues, “CalledTaylor to see if he knew where you were. Told me you were here. Didn’t think I’d show up to find you kissing your damn teammate.”

I watch Joe stiffen behind my dad at the mention of his son. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you here?”

“Tomorrow is the first game of championship week.”

I laugh incredulously. “You’ve come to one game all season, and it was only because your investors asked you to go. So I ask again, why are you here, Dad?”

His jaw clenches, realizing I’m not falling for his bullshit. “I’m closing on a high rise in the city this week, and I needed to be here to ensure everything went smoothly.”

Rocky scoffs behind me, but I don’t even dignify Dad with a reaction. Because I’m not surprised. Not even a little.

But in typical Charles Aldrich fashion, he tries to side-step the fact that he’s a lackluster father by zeroing in on the man behind me. “Is this why you’ve been distracted all season? Because ofhim?"

I open my mouth to respond, but he doesn’t waste a breath. “I told you this whole partnership was a mistake. I told you he was going to bring you down. I told you that someone like him was going to be a waste of your time.” I feel Lil step up next to Rocky, anger radiating off her in waves. “And instead of listening to me, you decide to-to what?”

Dad waves his hand at the two of us like he can’t even come up with the words. The fact that his son is in a relationship with a man he thinks is so below him is completely incomprehensible.

Joe takes a furious step toward my dad, but Cassie grabs him by the arm. Hurt and worry clearly etched on her face.

This is so not happening. I’m fucking done with this shit.

“You know what…” Dad’s nostrils are flared, and his fists are clenched at his side. Ready to rage against the fact that I dare speak up. “I’m done, Dad.”

“You’re done?” he asks with a laugh. “Done with what exactly?”

“You. I’m done with you,” I answer clear as day.

“You’re done with me? I’m your father, Clayton. Everything you are is because of me.”

“You see… that’s where you’re wrong. Everything I am is despite you. I am who I am because of me. Yes, I’ll always be thankful for the opportunities you and Mom have given me, but that’s not enough reason to hold on to what I hope we could be. Because it’s useless to hope where you’re concerned, Dad. I’m done with you acting like I’m not enough. I’m done feeling unworthy of love. I’m justdone.”

I release a heavy exhale, my body finally feeling like it’s shed the weight of a lifetime by merely speaking those words. Rocky’s strong hand threads itself through mine, and I’m only reassured by my decision.

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