Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses a relationship with an imbalanced power dynamic and accidental animal death.

Millie Cousins is the protagonist and one of three close perspective characters in Come and Get It. Born and raised an only child in Joplin, Missouri, to Richard and Glory Cousins, Millie is a Black senior student in hospitality management at the University of Arkansas. Her proactive work ethic stems from her childhood and early teen years when her mother encouraged her to do as much as she could with her spare time. She joins many clubs and extracurriculars as a child and starts leading them by the time she reaches high school. Her industrious nature leads her to take a gap year before she starts university, working at a bed-and-breakfast in Arkansas to qualify for in-state tuition. As a college sophomore, she is invited to become a resident assistant at the university, twice being assigned to Belgrade Dormitory.

When the novel begins, Millie is embarking on her second attempt at senior year. She took the previous year off after her mother was diagnosed with glaucoma. Millie moved back to Joplin to care for her, filling her free hours with a job as a barista at the local Barnes & Noble Starbucks.