Quiver & Burn (Surrender to Them 5)

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.