“That sounds fair.” I nodded and pointed to the register. “Ring me up.”
We had been hoping that there were some valuable pieces in the box, but they couldn’t all be winners. Five hundred was more than we paid for the locker, and we had already sold the furniture for a decent price. We also found a few things that our Mom liked, so that was always a bonus. We would be in good shape for the weekend, and that meant more storage lockers, so there was no reason to complain. It was still hot in Atlanta, even if fall was approaching fast, so the crowd wouldn’t be as big as it would get when it cooled off some. Once I finished up the transaction with Julian, I said goodbye and headed outside to my truck. I saw that I had a message on my phone from Jett, asking me to pick up dinner, so I headed towards the line of restaurants near our apartment.
I placed my order and as I waited in line for the food, I started thinking about Brylee. I was glad she was going with us to the storage locker auction, but I was surprised Jett didn’t ask her on a real date. Brylee was so fucking attractive, and I was a little jealous that Jett got to her first, but it was probably better that way. She seemed like a nice girl and probably wanted a lot more than I would ever be able to offer a woman. There was a time when I thought I would settle down and get married, but one night changed my perspective on that sort of future. A fire got out of control, and I found myself pinned down behind the blaze. All I could think as I accepted my impending fate was that it was a good thing I wasn’t married—and wouldn’t be leaving any children without a father.
I always swore that I wouldn’t abandon my family as my father did. After that night, I realized that my job could force me to break that personal oath. It ate at my soul, and after I recovered, I ended things with the girl I had been seeing. It was the last real relationship I had, and even after two years, I hadn’t really recovered enough to pursue another one. I still dated, but I made it clear up front that I wasn’t looking for anything serious. I couldn’t be the reason someone had to raise my children on their own. That was something I hadn’t even shared with Jett because I didn’t want to sour his perspective on romance. He still wanted to get married and become a father one day—I respected it, even if I didn’t share that dream anymore.
Who knows, maybe Brylee will be the one.
“Alright, the food is here.” I walked into the living room and dropped the food on the table. “Man, we’ve really got to start cooking.”
“I know, I was just thinking that.” He leaned over and pulled a hamburger out of the bag. “Hopefully tonight’s meal was paid for with spoils from our last locker?”
“Yeah, I got five-hundred for the jewelry.” I pulled the roll of money out of my pocket and tossed it on the table next to the food.
“Nice.” He smiled and started opening his hamburger wrapper. “A little more would have better, but we’ll be in good shape this weekend.”
“Yeah, I think so.” I pulled out my box of fries and started munching on them. “So, are you going to tell me why you invited Brylee along—not that I’m going to complain about the view.”
“I thought about asking her to dinner or something, but I think it’ll be more fun to take her to an auction.” Jett shrugged and took a bite of his hamburger.
“It’ll be a unique first date, that’s for sure—if you can even call it a date since I’ll be there too.” I stuffed another fry in my mouth and chuckled.
“I think it counts. Besides, I saw how interested you were in her.” Jett’s face twisted into a grin as he swallowed.
“I was just playing wingman.” I shook my head back and forth. “You spotted her first, and we don’t compete. You know I was just joking when I said Brylee might be the type of girl that might like twins—I’m not going to get in your way.”
“I know.” He nodded and chuckled under his breath.
Jett and I still hadn’t forgotten Hannah, the first girl we fell in love with. She was the reason we didn’t compete anymore. Competition pushed us to do something that left us both with scars on our soul. We convinced ourselves that it could work, but Hannah wanted a traditional relationship. She didn’t see a future with two men—and truthfully, we were just boys then. We had no idea how the world worked. We believed in a fantasy. It would be important for me to distance myself from Brylee if she was struggling with that same attraction. I couldn’t risk her falling for the both of us while Jett was trying to decide if she was the right girl for him. I would just be a complication. After the weekend, he had to take her on a real date. One that just involved the two of them.
The next day
“Ready to save the world?” I slid on my t-shirt and looked over at Jett, who was finishing his second cup of coffee in the kitchen.
“As ready as I’m going to be.” He put the cup on the counter and stared at it. “Maybe another cup of coffee wouldn’t hurt.”
“You’re not trying to delay things a few minutes so that you can be in the hallway right when Brylee leaves her apartment are you?” I tilted my head to the side.
“Hey man, coincidences happen.” He chuckled under his breath and poured another cup of coffee.
“Now I know why you send me down to get the truck every morning.” I shook my head and grinned.
“Yeah, it’s getting about that time.” He pretended to look at his watch. “I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.”
“You’re already in over your head, bro.” I walked over to the door and opened it.
I was worried after our discussion from the previous night. I thought I was the only one that noticed the faraway look in Brylee’s eyes. Jett was right. It really did look similar to the one Hannah had all those years ago. I couldn’t put myself through that again because it would only lead to heartbreak, and Jett definitely didn’t deserve to go through it again. I just needed to keep my distance while Jett was with Brylee. If she fell for him, then I would just be part of the background and they could build a relationship that was built on something deeper than fantasy. When I got to the end of the hallway, I heard a door open and when I turned my head, it was Brylee’s door. She started walking down the hallway and I darted around the corner so that she wouldn’t see me. A second later, our door opened and Jett stepped out into the hallway. I peeked around the corner to watch their interaction.
Every time I see her, she’s even more beautiful than the picture in my mind—fuck!
“Good morning, Brylee.” Jett lifted his hand and waved.
“Hey, good morning.” She stopped walking and took a drink of her coffee. “Heading to work today?”
“Yep.” Jett nodded quickly. “Another long twenty-four-hour shift.”
“Where’s Rand?” She tilted her head to look past Jett.
She’s asking about me—that’s not good.
“Ah, he already went downstairs to get the truck ready.” Jett pulled our door closed and locked it.
“Well tell him I said hello.” A beautiful smile spread across Brylee’s lips. “Do you want to walk me to the elevator?”
“Sure.” Jett turned towards the elevator.
Fuck. If I don’t get out of here they’re going to realize I was watching.
I turned and walked a little faster to get to the stairs, which were luckily out of their line of vision. I couldn’t help but wonder how many times Jett had staged that brief meeting in the hallway, only to watch her blow past him without a second glance. I had seen her a few times and noticed she was pretty, but I usually saw her when she was leaving the apartment building—shortly before Jett came down to hop in the truck. Even if I liked Brylee, there was no way I could get in the way of that.
Jett didn’t date very many girls, mainly because he was looking for something more concrete than I was. Wanting to be the better person didn’t erase my thoughts—the ones that couldn’t ignore how astoundingly gorgeous Brylee was. When I pulled the truck up to the front of the building, I saw her walk outside with Jett. She spotted me and immediately waved. All I could do was give her a s
light wave in return and hope she didn’t come over to the truck. Thankfully, she said goodbye to Jett and started walking in the opposite direction.
Yeah, this is going to be really difficult.
“Alright, let’s get to work.” Jett climbed into the truck and reached for his seat belt.
“Have a good conversation?” I looked over at him and chuckled as I put the truck in drive.
“She asked about you and said to say hello.” He looked over at me and shrugged.
“Do you want me to just skip the auction so you can have some time alone with her? That might make things easier.” I studied the traffic and waited for an opportunity to pull out into the street.
“No.” Jett shook his head back and forth. “I think we should just hang out with her and see what happens.”
That’s kind of what I’m afraid of.
Chapter Five
Brylee
I had a sneaking suspicion that Jett orchestrated our meeting, and it made me wonder if he had done that even before he introduced himself to me in the lobby. It didn’t bother me, in fact, it made me smile all the way to work. He seemed to be more interested than Rand, and I couldn’t exactly date both of them, even if they were equally gorgeous. I was looking forward to the weekend. It might not be a real date, but I hoped it would lead to one, especially if Jett turned out to be as nice as he seemed. Part of me wished it was just the two of us so I could get to know Jett a little better, but I wasn’t going to waste an opportunity to hang out with him. The smile persisted as I walked to the elevator, but then I started thinking about Dana.
Hopefully, I’ll go upstairs and she’ll tell me it was all a mistake.
“Good morning.” I walked up to my desk and looked over at Dana.
“Hey.” She lifted her head and I saw that her eyes were bloodshot.
I think she’s wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
“Did you even go home last night?” I pulled my chair over and sat down next to her.
“No.” She sighed and pointed at her cup. “I’m just living off the coffee fumes right now.”
“I guess you don’t have good news.” I started to nervously chew on my bottom lip.
“No. I sent an email to Mr. Dunkirk this morning and asked for a meeting. I told him that I needed to show him something that looked worrisome on the Russo account.” She exhaled sharply and leaned back in her chair. “He said he would talk to me tomorrow afternoon.”
“Tomorrow? This seems like something that would require a little more urgency.” I blinked in surprise.
“I thought so too, but I’m sure he has no idea how bad it is. I thought about sending him another email, but I’m so freaking tired right now.” Her eyelids fluttered and she reached for her coffee. “Perhaps I should sleep on it anyway—maybe I’ll think of something else to check before then.”
“You definitely look like you need some sleep.” I nodded and patted her hand. “Do you need anything?”
“Some courage?” She sipped her coffee and slowly put it down. “I’m really scared of what he’s going to say—and what will happen after I tell him.”
“Don’t be scared.” I patted her hand again. “You are doing the right thing.”
“I should probably update my resume anyway.” She sighed and stared at the computer screen. “This could end up being a disaster.”
“Yes.” I nodded in understanding. “I’ll be there with you in spirit, even if I can’t be there in person.”
“Thank you.” She forced a smile and nodded.
Dana was depressed until lunch and decided to go home early because she just wasn’t feeling well. As soon as I got off work, I went home with a sick feeling in my stomach that just wouldn’t go away. I was fairly happy that I didn’t see Jett or Rand on the way because I wasn’t sure that even the sight of the gorgeous twins could have cheered me up at that point. I sat down at my computer and started reviewing my resume while researching other accounting firms in the area. Thankfully, I hadn’t exhausted all opportunities in Atlanta. A few of them had told me no initially, but there were plenty of companies I hadn’t applied at yet. I hoped one of them would be willing to hire me. I definitely didn’t want to be a Dunkirk employee looking for a job after a scandal erupted. Even if I hadn’t been there long, I would have a dark cloud over my head.
I left early the next day and headed to the office. Fridays were normally a time for celebrating the upcoming weekend, and I should have been looking forward to it, but I was just too nervous. I hoped I would see Dana sitting at her desk since she was normally there pretty early, but she wasn’t there yet. I worked on my accounts and waited—hoping every person that walked through the door would be her. We were supposed to start at eight, and when she hadn’t shown up by nine, I decided to go check in with my boss. He told me that Dana had called in sick, and wouldn’t be in at all. I was surprised, especially considering that she was supposed to be meeting with Mr. Dunkirk about the Russo account. When the day ended, I was still feeling nervous about the situation, but I realized there would be no answers until Monday when Dana returned to work.
As much as this sucks, I can’t let it ruin my weekend. I finally get to spend time with Jett and Rand. I’ll have to put this to the side until Monday.
Saturday morning
I couldn’t keep from feeling a little excited when I got up on Saturday morning and started getting ready for the auction. I had no idea what I should wear, especially since they mentioned I might get—dirty. I had seen plenty of episodes of Storage Wars, and I knew that some of the lockers could be downright disgusting. I decided on a t-shirt, jeans, and enough makeup to look presentable without going overboard. The last thing I wanted was for it to start melting off my face the moment I broke a sweat. Once I was dressed, I walked over to their apartment and knocked on the door. I didn’t hear anything for several seconds and then the door opened. Rand greeted me with a quick hello and a smile, but that wasn’t what caught my eye. The front door had a direct line of sight to what appeared to be Jett’s bedroom, and he was shirtless, trying to choose between two t-shirts.
Oh wow, he’s beyond gorgeous.
“Come on in. Jett’s almost ready.” Rand motioned for me to enter and seemed oblivious to the slightly stunned expression on my face.
“Thanks.” I nodded and stepped into the apartment right as Jett slipped on his t-shirt and turned around.
They quickly explained the rules once I said hello to Jett and we were on the way to their truck. They didn’t want to appear too eager, and even if the locker looked interesting, I had to pretend it was just a bunch of crap nobody wanted. That seemed easy enough. I climbed into the truck with one of them on each side of me. I couldn’t help getting a little hot and bothered sitting there between two gorgeous firefighters. We made small talk, and I told them more about where I was from and what life was like in a small town. My mind started to wander a little bit when we took a sharp curve and Jett leaned against my shoulder. Luckily, we arrived at the storage auction location before my thoughts got out of control.
“Okay, are you ready?” Rand looked over at me once he parked the truck.
“Yep! I think so.” I turned my head towards him and smiled.
It was a pretty calm auction. I didn’t see any of the drama I saw on Storage Wars, which was a little disappointing. They passed over the first couple of lockers, but the third one was full of boxes and that seemed to pique their interest. They were able to pick it up for a couple of hundred dollars and then we headed to the next one. While it was interesting to see an actual storage auction in real life, it wasn’t as intriguing as I imagined once I had seen a few of them. They didn’t try to bid on another locker until the auctioneer opened one that had furniture. Most of it looked used, but there were a few nice pieces. They got that one for a few hundred, and the crowd moved on. By that point, we had been moving between lockers for a couple of hours and I was more interested in finding out what kind of treasures was in the
ones they had already bought than buying more.
“There are only a few lockers left.” Jett motioned towards the line of storage units. “Once we’re done buying, we’ll go dig for treasure—that’s usually the most interesting part.”
“And the most work.” Rand chuckled and nodded.
They didn’t bid on anymore lockers until the last one was opened. It was full of boxes and there was a very nice desk in it. The crowd had thinned and the few that remained weren’t bidding a lot of money. Just when I thought they were going to let it go, they met the auctioneer’s price and the other bidder dropped out. The remaining crowd disbursed and we headed back to the first locker they bought. I was kind of excited to see what kind of stuff would be in it. Jett opened it up and they started pulling boxes out into the parking lot. I did my best to help and grabbed a few smaller boxes. I was anxious to open them, but they seemed more interested in getting everything out before they started digging. They worked together to drag one of the larger boxes and I walked further into the storage locker to get one of the smaller boxes that were on top of a stack.
“This one is a little heavy.” I tugged on it, but it didn’t budge very much.
“I’ll come help in just a second,” Jett grunted as they continued lugging the large box out of the locker.
“I’ll get it.” I pulled over a stool that seemed to be able to support my weight and stepped up to get a better angle.
“Careful!” Rand walked towards me.
“I think I can—shit!” I pulled on the box, and the stool shifted—a second later, I was tumbling towards the concrete with the stool flipped over underneath me.
“Brylee!” Rand quickened his pace and before I slammed into the concrete, he caught me.
Whoa, he’s really strong. He caught me like I was nothing.
Quiver & Burn: A MFM Firefighter Romance (Surrender to Them Book 5) Page 3