All of Me: Rod & Daisy Duet Box Set
Page 1
ALL OF ME
Rod & Daisy Duet
A. D. JUSTICE
Contents
Volume 1
ROD & DAISY, BOOK ONE
1. CHAPTER ONE
2. CHAPTER TWO
3. CHAPTER THREE
4. CHAPTER FOUR
5. CHAPTER FIVE
6. CHAPTER SIX
7. CHAPTER SEVEN
8. CHAPTER EIGHT
9. CHAPTER NINE
10. CHAPTER TEN
11. CHAPTER ELEVEN
12. CHAPTER TWELVE
13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
19. CHAPTER NINETEEN
20. CHAPTER TWENTY
21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
26. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
28. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
29. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
30. CHAPTER THIRTY
31. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
32. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Afterword
Volume 2
ROD & DAISY, BOOK 2
1. CHAPTER ONE
2. CHAPTER TWO
3. CHAPTER THREE
4. CHAPTER FOUR
5. CHAPTER FIVE
6. CHAPTER SIX
7. CHAPTER SEVEN
8. CHAPTER EIGHT
9. CHAPTER NINE
10. CHAPTER TEN
11. CHAPTER ELEVEN
12. CHAPTER TWELVE
13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
19. CHAPTER NINETEEN
20. CHAPTER TWENTY
21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
26. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
EPILOGUE
Afterword
Books by A.D. Justice
About the Author
Acknowledgments
For my love
ALL OF ME.
Copyright © 2021 A.D. Justice.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, resold, or transmitted in any form without written permission from the copyright holder, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. If the location is an actual place, all details of said place are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to businesses, landmarks, living or dead people, and events is purely coincidental.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
All copyrights are held by A.D. Justice and have not been transferred to any other individual. Sharing or posting of this material in any group is considered copyright infringement and will be reported to the authorities. Criminal and civil charges will be pursued for damages.
Volume One
ROD & DAISY, BOOK ONE
Right time. Right place. Right woman.
I was blowing off steam when a guys’ trip led to a hot fling.
She was exactly what I needed for our ten days together.
I said I’d never fall in love.
I said I’d never get attached.
We were never supposed to see each other again.
We were never supposed to be anything more.
But when she comes back into my life, I remind myself of one thing: Wrong place. Wrong time. Wrong man.
All I Want is book one in the compelling All of Me duet series.
CHAPTER ONE
Rod
The Past
Ten months out of the year, I’m nine years older than my sister, Juliana. But for two months, our numerical age aligns perfectly at ten years apart.
Who would have ever believed those two months could end up being a “make us or break us” deal?
“How is she?” Dad asked from Juliana’s doorway, keeping his voice low so he wouldn’t wake her. He leaned his shoulder against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest and a worried expression on his face.
“She’s had a rough day, but she seems to be resting easier now.” My gaze drifted back to my little sister and a swell of protectiveness filled my chest. Unlike other older siblings who resented not being the only child, I welcomed her into the family with open arms when she was born. Being an only child sucked, and I wanted to be a big brother.
“She needs her medicine refilled tonight. If she wakes up sick again, we can’t let her get dehydrated. Do we have the money to afford it?” Mom moved to stand beside Dad, but she’d fixed her worried eyes on Juliana.
“We don’t have a choice, Debbie. If our bills have to wait, they’ll just be late. Don’t stress over that, babe. Give me a few minutes and I’ll go to the twenty-four-hour pharmacy.” Dad turned his head and watched Mom for several long seconds. I remember the scene like it was yesterday because it struck me as so odd. His daughter was the one he should be focused on, yet he stared at Mom as if it he was seeing her for the first time.
“Thank you, Chris. I know you’ve already had a long day at work. I can go if you’d rather stay home.”
“No, babe, I’m okay. I have a feeling your day has been worse than mine.” He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, then disappeared into the other room for several minutes.
Mom took his place holding up the doorframe. That’s when bits and pieces of adult conversations I’d heard over the past couple of years started to make sense. Mom was still relatively young, only in her early thirties. She’d married and had me when she was still a teenager. Then Juliana came along ten years later as a big surprise. The strain of holding our little family together was beginning to show in her face.
“I’m leaving now,” Dad announced when he reappeared. “I love you.” He stroked Mom’s face with his fingertips and she instinctively leaned into his touch.
“I love you too, Chris.”
Then he walked over to me and motioned for me to stand. When I complied, he wrapped his arms around me and embraced me in a tight hug. “If I haven’t told you lately, I just want you to know what a wonderful son you are, Rod. You’ve had to grow up way before your time, but I’m proud of the man you’ve become. I love you, son.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
Careful not to wake her, he leaned over Juliana and placed light kisses on her cheek and forehead. “I love you, my little precious girl.” He straightened and turned his attention back to Mom. “She feels warm again. I think her fever is returning.”
“We may end up in the emergency room tonight. I’m doing everything I can to avoid it.” Mom scraped her hand over her face, fighting the anxiety of a potential hospital bill we couldn’t afford to pay.
“Some things can’t be helped, Debbie. We all do the best we can.” Dad shrugged, but the heavy weight on his shoulders only amplified the effort that simple move took.
When he moved toward the door, Mom sent him out with her usual request. “Be careful, honey, and drive s
afely.”
Dad looked over his shoulder. He wore a forlorn expression and forced a smile as he nodded.
When he didn’t return home within the hour, Mom started to worry about him. She began running through the telltale signs of wringing her hands and looking out the window every few minutes for headlights. At hour number two, she called all the emergency rooms around Atlanta, one after the other, asking about a man who might fit his description. But her search was in vain. After a few hours with no word, she called his buddies, profusely apologizing for waking up the ones who answered.
Despite her efforts, she had no luck finding him anywhere. I kept my vigil beside Juliana’s bed the entire night, holding a wet washcloth to her head to help bring her fever down. I wiped her mouth when the little fluid she had in her came back up and held her hand to reassure her she wouldn’t die on my watch.
Sometime very early the next morning, I fell asleep in the sentinel position beside her bed in case she needed me again. Mom didn’t get one wink of sleep, though. She paced the floor until small streams of sunlight broke through the blinds, shedding light on the dining room table. That’s when she saw it, the note Dad had left in a place where he knew we wouldn’t find it right away.
What lower-middle-class family ate their meals in a formal dining room?
Some people call it a “Dear John” letter. I call it the coward’s way out.
Dear Debbie,
I’m sorry, but the life you want is not the life I want.
Please don’t look for me.
I just can’t do this anymore.
Chris
This was his family.
This was his wife, his son, and his daughter.
He deserted us, knowing Juliana desperately needed that medicine to get well. He did this, knowing Mom needed her husband and his kids needed their father. But this meant nothing to him in the end. The life he wanted was out there somewhere, in a place where we weren’t. Whatever he was searching for was obviously better than we were. Something waited for him that was more exciting. He had something new that made him want to get up in the morning and come home at night.
We never knew what we did wrong to make him walk out and leave. None of us had a clue. The coward left that bullshit note and didn’t bother to even send us a fucking postcard in all the years that followed. I was only fourteen when I was left to help pick up the pieces of our tattered lives. He destroyed everything when he chose the absolute worst time to have a midlife crisis.
As for his whereabouts, I don’t know if Mom ever looked for him after she found that note. I sure as hell didn’t look for him either. Our grandparents on his side of the family were devastated by his actions. He was still their son, and they loved him just the same, though. Truthfully, that only made me more bitter about the entire situation because that was a direct insult to my worth. That resentment emerged every time they tried to bring up the subject.
Juliana and I went to visit them one weekend when I was sixteen and she was six. Even at her tender age, she understood what Chris had done to us as a family, although she wasn’t as aggressive about his betrayal as I was. When Grandma brought him up around me, it always resulted in a showdown.
“Chris is your father, Rod. You should call and talk to him.” She felt it was her place to push us back together, always hoping for a family reconciliation. “A growing boy needs to spend time with his dad.”
“Are you talking about the loser who left to go buy medicine for a sick little girl then never came back home? Didn’t call. Didn’t send money. Didn’t care if we had food on the table, clothes to wear, or if we were even still alive. Is that who you’re calling my father?” I loosely crossed my arms and gave her a disinterested glare.
Her eyes teared up, and she put her hand over her heart, maybe trying to keep it from breaking in two, but my response ended the conversation. At least she never tried to justify his actions. That would’ve sent me over the edge and she wouldn’t have seen me again. When he left, my heart turned to stone. Fitting, since that’s also my last name.
Still, Grandma and Grandpa tried to give us hints or some other small clue as to his whereabouts, hoping Juliana and I would contact him on our own. But neither of us took the bait. By that time, he was dead to me anyway, and I didn’t want him to come back or try to make amends for anything. Watching Mom wear herself out to feed, clothe, and keep a roof over our heads during those years had sealed Chris’s fate with me.
During the four years after he left us, I did everything I could to help Mom keep us alive. When she worked extra shifts at the carpet mill, I played with Juliana, read her books, cooked her meals with what little food we had, and made sure she took her bath every night. When Mom came home after spending eighteen to twenty hours on her feet, working in a hot warehouse-style building, she somehow still made time to ask about our days, our grades, and our friends. We never felt as though we were a burden or that we came last to her.
Grandma and Grandpa tried to pick up some of his slack. They knew Christmas and birthday presents were luxury items our pitiful little family couldn’t afford to waste wishes on, much less spend money to buy. They made sure the major holidays and milestones were covered. On my sixteenth birthday, an old beater car appeared in our driveway and mysteriously never had an unpaid car insurance bill. Then, there was the Dell laptop and printer they insisted I needed so I could do my homework and get into a good college.
While Mom worked and Juliana slept, I studied every computer language book I could find until I could code new programs in my sleep. Technology was growing by leaps and bounds and only seemed to be more promising in the future. That’s where I set my sights from an early age. Fueled by vengeance, but determined, nonetheless, I vowed our little family would never struggle again.
CHAPTER TWO
Rod
“When you’re right, you’re right. I’m glad you talked me into taking off work and starting our boys’ trip a few days early. This is exactly what I needed. The first day of October in the Caribbean does not suck at all.” I’m talking to my best friend, Kevin, but my eyes are glued to a hot brunette’s ass as she passes by. “Damn, would you look at that? Her ass looks like a volleyball—hard and plump. Makes me want to sink my teeth into it.”
“Man, she’s fine, all right. She keeps glancing over her shoulder at you, Rod. Annnnd she’s slowing down now. Are you going over there to talk to her or what?”
“Or what. The ladies come to me, dude. I’m not chasing tail for the two weeks we’re here. Tail chases me.”
“My bad, my bad. I keep forgetting what a catch you are.”
“Was that sarcasm I detected? That’s no way to treat your wingman.”
He chuckles and takes another swig of his beer. “After all the shit you gave me over picking this destination for our getaway, you deserve worse.”
This “destination” is a singles resort in Punta Cana. There’s clear blue ocean, white sand beaches, and sexy, half-naked ladies as far as the eye can see in every direction. It’s not exactly Hedonism II for singles, but it’s pretty damn close. Since they celebrate Halloween for the entire month, they’ve also planned a couple of costume parties during the time we’re here to further nurture the party atmosphere.
After several minutes of eye-fucking the brunette with the nice ass from behind my shades, giving her every opportunity to proposition me to no avail, I turn my attention elsewhere. If she’s not bold enough to make a move and accept my open invitation, she’s not bold enough for the bedroom antics I have in mind. Our other two friends, Hunter and Jace, rejoin us at our spot poolside with four ice buckets full of bottled beer.
“Man, that bartender is the woman of my dreams. I’ve used every line in the damn book to get her attention, but that nut ain’t cracking.” Hunter turns his gaze toward the poolside tiki bar and shakes his head. “I would rock her world if she gave me half a chance.”
“Hunter, the chick works here, man. She’s heard more lines than yo
u could ever dream up. She’s nice to you because it’s her job and she’s dressed to kill for the tips. Besides, that girl is so far out of your league, you’d have to be an astronaut to reach her.” Jace grabs a beer from his bucket and takes off after a girl who catches his eye, not giving Hunter a chance to rebut.
“Will he score this time? Let’s analyze his approach. He’s confident but approachable. He’s showing his best smile and bleached-white teeth. There’s the subtle touch, ladies and gents. He went for the simple tactic of stroking her long hair between his fingers and letting it flow across his palm—innocent but suggestive. Watch how his knuckles graze across the exposed skin of her chest. It worked! She steps closer to him, looking up at him from under her eyelashes and smiling sweetly.
“Wait. What’s happening? Her expression changed suddenly, and she’s looking to her friends for advice. Jace pours on the charm, trying to sway the estrogen pack in his favor. Will he be able to close the deal this time, or will he be shot down once again? The suspense is killing me.”