Page 46 of Where There's Smoke…
“Jed, I love you like a brother, but I will drop kick your ass so quick if you don’t stop playing with me,” I say as I narrow my eyes at him. He smirks and raises his hands in surrender. “Just annoying.”
“You know I love fucking with you, Phee,” he laughs. “I’d never hit on your woman for real, but she is fine.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say as he follows me to the garage, where Kentrell and Emerson are busy washing the truck. “Sup, y’all.”
“You know, I never thought I’d see the day when Phoenix Preston voluntarily takes a week off,” Kentrell jokes, and Emerson laughs. “Love is a crazy thing, ain’t it?”
“Man, whatever,” I mumble as I wave him off, but I can feel my cheeks getting warm. I hated how right he was.
“Phee, there’s nothing wrong with being in love,” Emerson adds. “I think it’s really cute how head over heels you are for Angel. She’s an amazing woman; you two were meant for each other. The whole world can see it.”
“Yeah, we’re happy for you, cuz,” Jed nods as he pats me on the back. “I’m so proud of you for getting out the streets.”
“Kentrell, get your friend before I break his neck,” I groan, playfully pushing Jed away from me. “You been on my ass since I walked in, bro. Fuck you. I was never out there like that.”
“Uh…” I look over at Kentrell with a shocked expression. “What? He has a point, Phee. You did used to have a different girl every few weeks up until right before Angel moved into town.”
“That’s not…”
My voice trails off as I sigh because deep down, I knew they were right. I never took relationships seriously in the past because I thought for sure that I would never fall this deep for anyone. I never had any real connection with the women I entertained because something kept me from fully investing. Now, I knew it was because my heart and brain were working together to ensure I never settled.
When I ran into Angel for the first time last year, it was like something in my brain clicked, and suddenly, sleeping around wasn’t something that interested me anymore. I mean, yeah, I did sleep with achick off and on up until earlier this year, but as Kentrell said, I cut ties with her the moment I got word that Angel was moving back to town. I didn’t know shit about her aside from her name and that she could bake, but I knew that if I wanted to even the slightest chance of being with her, I had to make sure I was single as fuck.
So, I cut ties with ole girl and did everything I could to curb my old ways, making sure to get tested to make sure I was good after all my sleeping around. However, Angel was grieving when she first moved here, so I didn’t approach her right off the bat. It wasn’t until a month later that I ran into her outside of Madd’s shop, and I felt like it was my chance to finally say something.
And I did. To my surprise, she was feeling me too, and thus started what had blossomed into me finding the love of my life. I couldn’t be happier to be able to call her mine, and just the thought of that was enough to make me smile. I didn’t care how much they wanted to tease me. I was happy and didn’t care what anyone said about it.
“Look at her over there smiling,” Kentrell laughs. “Damn, Phee. Angel really does make you all giggly, huh?”
“So, what?” I say, shaking my head. “Fuck, I love her so much. I’d do anything for her.”
“Hey, Angel!”
My head snaps back towards the door to where Emerson is waving. Standing there is Angel, dressed in a light blue sweater, jeans that seemed to be glued to her, and a pair of boots. The weather had gotten down to the low 40s within the last few days, soshe was bundled up. She mentioned before that she hated cold weather with a passion. Winter was her least favorite season, and even though it wasn’t technically Winter yet, she wasn’t taking any chances with possibly being cold.
I walk over to where she stands, followed by the others. They greet and thank her as she hands them a tray of muffins. Every time she stopped by, she had a pan or box of pastries to gift us, and the guys appreciated it. As much as they loved to tease her occasionally, they were just as protective as I was when it came to her. See what I mean when I say that this woman was spoiled? The whole town loved her. Honestly, it was hard not to with the kind of personality she had.
There was never a day when she wasn’t smiling, even when she was having a bad day. When she entered that bakery, she put all her worries on the back burner and proceeded to be the best boss and owner anyone could ever ask for. She was a pure soul, and I think that’s one of the things about her that I was attracted to the most. I loved how much of a free spirit she was. She was genuinely a joy to be around. Being in her presence could make anyone’s day go from glum to full of sunshine and rainbows. It was so fucking refreshing if I’m being honest.
“Hey, Sweets,” I greet her as I pull her in for a kiss. When I pull away, I use my pointer finger to push her glasses back up, and she stares at me with an innocent look. “It’s not even eight in the morning yet, and you’re coming to see me? You must’ve missed me, even though we were together all night.”
“No, Ididn’t miss you,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “I, uh, I just was going for…a walk! Yeah, I was going for a walk, and I ended up here.”
“With a box of muffins?” I ask, a smirk playing at the corner of my mouth as I step closer to her. She nods, blinking up at me. My hands connect with her waist, and I back her up until her back is pressed against the wall behind her. I move my hands to rest on the wall on either side of her head. Her hands drop as her chest rises and falls rapidly, not once dropping eye contact. “This reminds me of when we ran into each other outside of Madd’s shop, huh? We were in this same position, and what happened?”
“I…I don’t…”
“You don’t what, Sweets?” I ask, loving every second of this. I was sure that she was about two seconds away from losing her shit and I wanted that so bad. I cupped her face in my hands, and her hands grabbed where my shirt was tucked into my pants as a moan escaped her lips. I kissed her, and another moan fell from her lips. “Talk to me, Sweets.”
“Phoenix, stop playing with me before I say fuck it and pull you into your office and have you riding my face again,” she says and my mouth falls open in shock, but I can’t help the amusement that washes over my face. It wasn’t until I heard someone choking that I remembered that we weren’t alone.
“Yo, what the fuck!” Jed says as Kentrell pats him on the back. Emerson’s expression mirrors mine, and he laughs, shaking his head. Once Jed is all coughed out, he looks from me to Angel. “Mannnn, I know I ain’t just hear what I think I heard. Angel, my sweet, sweet cousin-in-law…I can’t believe Phoenix turned you out!”
“Oh my god,” she says, covering her face.
“Nah, Cheonsa, don't play innocent now,” he teases as he comes over to where we are. He smirks as she glares at him. “Or should I say…dokkaebi.”
“Bruh, back yo ass up,” I fuss, pulling him away from her. “Stop being a fucking menace.”
