Quiver & Burn: A MFM Firefighter Romance (Surrender to Them Book 5)

by Kelli Callahan

  Quiver & Burn

  Kelli Callahan

  Copyright © 2018 by Kelli Callahan

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Brylee

  2. Jett

  3. Brylee

  4. Rand

  5. Brylee

  6. Jett

  7. Brylee

  8. Rand

  9. Brylee

  10. Jett

  11. Brylee

  12. Brylee

  13. Brylee

  14. Rand

  15. Jett

  16. Brylee

  17. Rand

  18. Brylee

  19. Jett

  20. Brylee

  21. Rand

  22. Brylee

  23. Jett

  Epilogue

  Join My Mailing List

  Kelli’s Voracious Vixens

  Temptation & Trouble: Sneak Peek

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Brylee

  “Congratulations, honey.” My mother wrapped her arms around me and squeezed so hard she lifted me off my feet.

  “I’m so proud of you.” My father hugged me as soon as my mother put me down—thankfully, he was a little gentler.

  “I did it! I graduated!” I held up my degree and grinned from ear to ear.

  “Now you have to get a job.” My father patted me on the back. “The joyride is over.”

  “I’m working on that.” I nodded quickly. “I’ve got several interviews set up.”

  “Anything local?” My mother raised her eyebrows. “Please tell me you’re not planning to move very far away.”

  “We should probably talk about that later.” My face twisted into a grimace.

  “Don’t give her a hard time.” My father put his arm around my mother. “She’s all grown up now. She has to find her own place in the world.”

  “She has a place—and a room. There are plenty of jobs in Cedar Grove.” My mother shot my father a half-hearted angry glare.

  “No, there’s not.” My father sighed and shook his head. “You know that as well as I do.”

  “I promise that we’ll talk about this later.” I smiled and handed my degree to my father. “Will you make sure this gets back to the house?”

  “You’re not coming with us?” My mother tilted her head with concern etched on her face.

  “There’s a graduation party. I won’t stay long, I promise, but this is my last chance to see some of my friends.” I reached out and took my mother’s hand. “I’ll be home soon.”

  “Okay, but no drinking.” My mother squeezed my hand.

  “She’s almost twenty-four years old, Linda. If she wants to have a drink, she can.” My father rolled his eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry, honey. Go have fun with your friends. You see us every day.”

  “I love you both.” I smiled and waved before walking over to the group of friends that were waiting for me.

  My mother had good intentions, but she had always been extremely protective of me—sometimes to a fault. My father was a little more understanding and while I would always be his little girl, he understood that I had to grow up one day. Moving away and being on my own was rather terrifying, but I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to stay in Cedar Grove. I always dreamed of living in the city, working in an office with an amazing view, and living a wonderful metropolitan life. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and nothing like what I saw on television, but I still needed to have a taste of the adventure. If it didn’t work out, I could always come back to Cedar Grove. It would always be home, no matter how far away I went.

  “Do you want to do shots now, or wait until we get to the party?” My best friend, Gwendolyn, put her arm around me.

  “I’m not doing shots.” I shook my head quickly. “And keep your voice down, my parents are right over there—currently talking to your parents.”

  “My parents gave me an expensive bottle of bourbon for graduation. I don’t think they’re going to mind if I knock back a few shots before I leave campus.” She giggled and pointed in her purse where I saw a flask peeking out.

  “Did you already start drinking?” I tilted my head to look into her eyes.

  “I just had a little bit.” She giggled again.

  “Okay, then I’m definitely driving tonight.” I nodded and dug my car keys out of my purse.

  Gwendolyn and I went to the graduation party where we met up with some more of our friends. Cedar Grove University wasn’t really known as a party school, and the graduation party was no exception. There was an open bar with beer, wine, and mixed drinks, but the main attraction was the enormous buffet in the middle of the room. I saw more people with soda and water in their hands than alcoholic beverages. Gwendolyn seemed determined to get drunk, so I left her with a few of our friends that had the same goal for the evening and headed to the buffet. I filled my plate with a generous helping of food and walked over to one of the tables near the corner. I definitely planned to mingle, but I hadn’t eaten a bite all day, so I was starving.

  “Hey, Brylee. How’s the food?” A guy named Charles that I had a few classes with walked up to the table.

  “It’s fantastic.” I smiled and wiped the edge of my lip as I raised my head. “You haven’t even ate yet?”

  “No, I’m a nervous wreck right now.” Charles sighed and sipped a dark colored drink that appeared to be whiskey or bourbon. “I’m interviewing for a position at Landon Investments tomorrow.”

  “Wow! That’s awesome! I guess you’re not planning to stay in Cedar Grove either?” I tilted my head to the side.

  “I hope not.” He raised his eyebrows and smirked. “I can’t wait to get out of this shit hole.”

  “It’s not that bad.” My head snapped back in surprise.

  “We’re at our graduation party and half the people aren’t even drinking. I don’t even think we have a keg.” He sighed and shook his head.

  “That shouldn’t surprise you after four years at Cedar Grove University.” I lifted my hand to my lips and chuckled.

  “It doesn’t—that’s why I’m damn eager to leave.” Charles nodded and started heading towards the bar, draining his drink as he walked.

  After I finished eating, I rejoined Gwendolyn and we spent the rest of the evening telling our favorite stories from college. I was going to miss my friends, but it was definitely time for me to embrace my future. I wanted a good job, and I wanted to meet a nice man—get married, hopefully, have kids. While there were a few guys in Cedar Grove I could have seen myself settling down with, none of them really had that spark of adventure I was looking for. The ones that did would be scattered in the wind after graduation, and I would be right there with them, drifting on a breeze of uncertainty. First, I had to talk my mother off the ledge. I hoped my father would give me a little help with that since he seemed to understand me a little better than she did.

  Three months later

  It took me a couple of months and a lot of interviews to finally land a job that would allow me to put my accounting degree to good use. I had started to lose hope when I got a call from an accounting firm in Atlanta that wanted me to come interview in person. I had gotten so used to having my initial interview over Skype that their call caught me off guard. A few days later, I was officially an employee
of Dunkirk Accounting. I had enough money saved up to rent an apartment and my parents helped me buy a few pieces of furniture. I would be sleeping on a futon for a little while, but I didn’t mind at all. I was just happy to sit down in the middle of the apartment and call it mine. The job was a little more rigorous than I imagined, but I was so excited to be working that I had no problem putting in the extra hours.

  My first paycheck was so beautiful that I wanted to frame it. Technically, I could if I wanted to since the money was directly deposited in my account, and the piece of paper they gave me was nothing more than a receipt. I was still staring at it with a huge grin on my face when I walked into my apartment building. I was also so distracted that I wasn’t watching where I was going and when I got to the mailboxes in the lobby, I nearly ran into someone. Not just someone—a guy that lived on my floor. I had seen him in the hallway a couple of times when I went to work, but we never said much to each other outside of a simple polite greeting or nod of the head.

  “I’m so sorry!” I tucked my paycheck stub into my purse and put my hands in front of me.

  “It’s okay.” He waved me off. “You live on my floor right—4D?”

  “Yep, that’s me!” I nodded and smiled.

  “I thought so. I’ve seen you a couple of times. You always seem to be in a hurry.” His lips spread into a smile.

  “Yeah.” I chuckled under my breath. “I’m usually rushing to work.”

  “Nice to officially meet you, usually rushing to work. I’m Jett.” He extended his hand.

  “My name is Brylee.” I shook his hand and a huge grin spread across my face.

  Jett was hot, and not just the kind of hot that would make me stop to notice—he was so hot that looking into his steel-colored eyes made my pulse race. I noticed he was attractive when I passed him in the morning, but I never really got a good look at him. His hair was brown, with sun-kissed highlights that complimented his tan. He was tall, with broad muscular shoulders and his arms were covered in gorgeous ink. I had never seen a man like him in Cedar Grove. He looked like he was drawn from someone’s fantasy and brought to life—and I was stood there talking to him, the only fantasy I was thinking about was my own. I finally snapped back to reality when I realized I had a stupid grin plastered on my face and I was looking at him like he was a work of art I was trying to memorize.

  “I’m standing in front of your mailbox, aren’t I?” He looked over his shoulder. “4D—right there.”

  Yep, that’s why I was staring at you. I just wanted my mail.

  “Thank you.” I pulled my key out and pushed it into the lock once he stepped out of the way.

  “Anyway, it was good to meet you.” He waved and walked towards the elevators, but then cut to the right and went up the stairs.

  I didn’t know anything about Jett except that he was unbelievably attractive, hot-as-sin, and could have melted my panties off if he got too close to me. It might as well have been true love at that point because my pulse was still racing when I got to the elevators. I had never really been in love. I thought I was in high school, but that relationship ended pretty badly when we realized we were sixteen years old and had no idea what we were even doing. That didn’t stop us from trying, and he was the only guy I had actually been intimate with. I dated a few guys in college, but I was too cautious to get seriously involved. I already knew I wasn’t staying in Cedar Grove by that point and I was scared to fall in love with someone that I could potentially lose once college was over.

  “Could you hold the elevator please?” I heard a voice and turned around to see—Jett?

  “Uh—yeah?” I hit the button and tried to make sense of what I was seeing.

  What? No, I just watched him go upstairs. Wait—this guy doesn’t have the same tattoos and his hair is a little different.

  “Are you okay?” He looked at me with a perplexed stare.

  “Yes, I am. I apologize, but I just met you—I mean, someone who looks almost identical to you.” I stammered over my words and tried to hit the button to the fourth floor twice—missing each time.

  “Oh.” He chuckled and reached past me to hit the button that I was continuing to miss. “You must have met my twin brother, Jett. I’m Rand.”

  “There’s two of you!” I realized as soon as the words left my mouth that they came out with more excitement than they should have.

  “Yes, last time I checked.” He chuckled again and his lips spread into a grin. “So what’s your name?”

  “Brylee.” I smiled and laughed. “It feels like I’m introducing myself to the same person again.”

  “We get that a lot.” He smirked and when the elevator arrived on the fourth floor, he motioned for me to exit. “After you.”

  “Thanks.” I nodded and stepped off the elevator.

  I walked to my apartment but turned my head back towards Rand before I pushed my key into the door. He was looking directly at me and didn’t even seem to care that I had caught him staring. I immediately blushed, opened my door, and slammed it behind me. My pulse finally started to settle down, but I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. I didn’t normally judge a book by the cover or a person by their appearance. It was hard not to do that with Jett and Rand. They were so hot they might as well have been smoldering. I had never felt instantaneous attraction before, and I felt it twice in a matter of minutes. They were practically identical in every way except for their tattoos.

  I think I’m really going to like living in Atlanta.

  Chapter Two

  Jett

  “Hey, man.” I walked out of the kitchen when I heard the front door opening. “I thought you were going to meet some of the guys from the station for a few beers. I already ordered dinner.”

  “I thought about it, but man—I’m fucking tired. What did you order?” Rand walked into the living room and dropped down into one of the recliners.

  “Chinese.” I reached over and picked up my cell phone. “I’ll give them a call and see if they can double the order.”

  “Sounds good. Thanks, man.” Rand nodded and picked up the television remote.

  I understood why Rand was tired. I was pretty exhausted myself, which is why I didn’t even consider meeting up with the guys from work. I couldn’t believe any of them were ready for anything but a good night’s rest after the shift we had. Rand and I had been firefighters at Station 16 in Atlanta for five years, and it was easily one of the worst ones ever. It started with an apartment fire downtown that we spent hours putting out, and before we got back to the station, we had to respond to another call. We got a couple hours of sleep after that, but then we were back on the truck with the sirens wailing. We were both coasting on fumes because we had a few things to take care of during the day and couldn’t get any sleep when we got off at seven that morning. I was looking forward to gorging on Chinese food and immediately going to bed, even if the sun was still up.

  “Alright, all set. The food should be here in about thirty minutes.” I walked into the living room and sat down “So, I finally met our hot neighbor.”

  “Let me guess, her name is Brylee?” Rand flashed a smile.

  “What, when did you meet her?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

  “We rode up in the elevator together. The twin thing threw her off a little bit.” Rand leaned back in his chair and chuckled.

  “It usually does.” I nodded in understanding.

  “Why didn’t you ask her out? I was sure as fuck considering it.” Rand tilted his head to the side.

  “I guess I’m so tired I was off my game. By the time I realized I probably should have just gone for it, I was already halfway up the stairs.” I shrugged and sighed.

  “You must not be as tired as me then, because I didn’t even think about taking the stairs.” Rand chuckled again.

  “I was regretting it after the first floor.” I nodded slowly, feeling my eyes begging me to let them shut.

  The Chinese food arrived and we made quick work of it.
We talked about Brylee a little more while we ate. She was so beautiful that I couldn’t stop my encounter with the beautiful almond-blonde in the lobby from playing through my head. She had a natural innocence to her, with blue-green eyes that were almost turquoise, and they sparkled like they just loved life. Her curves though—there was nothing innocent about them. They made me think dirty thoughts, thoughts that began with her soft pouty lips and ended with her toes pointed at the ceiling. I wasn’t too tired for that—hell, I was never too tired for a gorgeous woman. Rand seemed to share the same attraction for her that I did, which wasn’t surprising. Any man would have questioned his purpose in life after getting a good look at her. She blew by me so fast in the mornings that I barely had a chance to stare, but every curve was memorized after finally getting a chance to talk to her.

  “So what do you think man—are you going to be too tired to hit up a few storage units this weekend?” Rand leaned back in his chair and put his hand on his very full stomach.

  “I think I’ll be fine after a little bit of sleep, provided that the next shift isn’t as brutal as this one.” I nodded and rubbed my eyes. “I’m just glad we have a chance to rest up.”

  “Right now, all I can think about is a bed.” He exhaled sharply. “I’ll probably be up before the sun if I go to bed this early though.”

  “I really don’t give a fuck.” I leaned forward and pushed up from the chair. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Alright, I’m going to watch the news for a while or something. I’ll probably pass out in the chair for a little bit.” He chuckled and waved as I headed towards the bedroom.