Smoke and Fire (Surrender to Them 1)

“I can’t believe we’re drinking with an actual celebrity.” Chase smirked and sipped his beer.

“Celebrity? I raised my eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I guess you haven’t had a chance to turn on the news.” Trent picked up his cell phone and tapped it a few times. “See, you are the face of the Highland Park Apartments fire. Unusual for a fire with no casualties, but sometimes they like a pretty face.”

“Oh my god.” I reached out and took his phone. “Wait, is this like—on the news right now?”

“It’s been on the news all day. They don’t mention us, though.” Chase shrugged and reached for his phone after I finished reading the article.

“Don’t worry, people will forget who you are in a few days.” Trent chuckled and lifted his beer. “You can enjoy your fifteen minutes of fame until then.”

This may turn out to be a bigger disaster than I realized.

“Yeah, I guess so.” It felt like my heart was slowly sinking into my stomach as I processed what they said.

“So, tell us about yourself. Are you from Chicago originally?” Trent leaned forward in his seat as he spoke, keeping his eyes fixed on me.

“No, I was born in a small town called Glendale.” I shook my head back and forth as I met his gaze. “I moved from to the city when I was nineteen.”

“For school?” Trent tilted his head inquisitively.

“No, I applied for a few jobs here and saved up money from working retail in high school. I really didn’t want to stay in Glendale, so I left as soon as I could.” I nodded my head as I spoke.

“Sometimes I wish I lived in a small town where I had to worry about was the occasional cat in a tree.” Trent chuckled and smiled.

“Not me.” Chase shook his head back and forth. “That shit would drive me crazy.”

There were a lot of details about my past that I gave the glossiest coat of paint as we talked—things I hadn’t told anyone since leaving Glendale behind. As nice as they were being to me, I had no interest in revealing my past to two people I hardly knew. I hadn’t even shared the intimate details with Anna, and I considered her a good friend—well, up until the point that I found out she was planning on leaving without saying goodbye. That part still hurt, but I had too much going on in my own life to worry about her. I had played the part of her babysitter for far too long and she didn’t even appreciate what I had done enough to let me know she was leaving ahead of time. I thought she was my friend, but a real friend would have respected me more than that.

They continued to share tales of their heroics, which was nice, because it took the attention off me. Trent told his version more like a story while Chase was clearly just bragging. I didn’t have anything special to add about my daily life. I worked in a call center that provided customer service for various appliances. I knew nothing about the products. All of my answers came from a book that I sorted based on the problems that the customers outlined. It was less than glamorous and I spent my days in a cubicle. It wasn’t the life I dreamed of when I was growing up, but there weren’t a lot of jobs out there for someone that didn’t go to college. I was just happy being able to pay my own way.

“So, tell me, Kayla.” Chase put down his beer and stared at me. “Are you going to go on a date with my friend?”

“Come on, Chase. Don’t put her on the spot.” Trent exhaled sharply and shook his head. “You’ll have to excuse him—Chase isn’t one for subtlety.”

“No, it’s okay.” I sighed and dropped my head for a moment. “I don’t know. I mean, you seem nice enough, but my life is so complicated right now.”

“Uh oh.” Chase leaned over and slapped Trent’s arm with the back of his palm. “She’s already giving you the nice guy line.”

“Never a good sign.” Trent’s lip twisted in disappointment.

Wow, I’ve never had an audience before when someone asked me out.

“Trust me, if you walked in a bar a week ago and offered to buy me a drink, I wouldn’t have hesitated at all. My mind is a mess right now.” I shook my head back and forth. “I really appreciate you letting me stay here, but I don’t think it would be a good idea with everything that is going on.”

“Okay.” Trent’s face couldn’t hide the disappointment, but he seemed to shrug it off.

The conversation was awkward for about an hour, but their disappointment seemed to wane as we continued to talk. I hated that I had shut Trent down, but I really did feel like it was for the best. He was sexy as hell, and everything that would normally tempt me, at least on the surface. The layers that started to peel away seemed to be just as enticing. I couldn’t quite shake the concern I had over the fact I lied to him about the fire. My mistake might not have been completely burned away, and that would certainly endanger any relationship before it got off the ground. We drank until it was late into the evening and I didn’t feel like I had any stories left to share that wouldn’t reveal too much about myself, so I decided it was time for bed.

“All right, guys, I can’t keep up with you.” I stretched my arms out and yawned. “You lapped me several beers ago.”

“Sleep well, Kayla.” Trent nodded and started to stand. “I need to grab a blanket and pillow, though, first.”

“Unless you just want to share the bed with him.” Chase chuckled and winked at the two of us.

“I already got rejected once. My ego can only take so many hits.” Trent gave Chase a playful swat with his hand and started down the hallway.

“He’s a good one, you know.” Chase’s expression turned serious once Trent was gone. “You could do a lot worse.”