Page 19 of Where There's Smoke…
“Well, I kind of played softball for a bit in high school before I had to quit because of how my body reacts to being out in the sun too long,” she sighs. “It sucks because I really liked it, but I’d always break out and have to sit out half of the game.”
“I wasn’t expecting that, but I should’ve known it wouldn’t take much for you to get me wet,” I smirked, and her eyes bulged.
“Phee, please,” she whispers as her eyes travel over to the guy she came with. “Not in front of my brother.”
“Oh, so you not gon introduce me to my future brother-in-law?” I tease.
“You are too much,” she laughs, but takes my hand and pulls me in his direction. He finally uncrosses his arms and stares at me with an unamused expression. “Chris, this is my partner, Phoenix. And Phee, this is one of my older brothers, Chris.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, extending my hand. He takes it in his hand and nods.
“I was wondering why she wanted to come over here so bad after we packed all her stuff, but I see now,” he nods. A small smile plays on his lips, but he tries to hide it. “I ain’t tryna be that overbearing older brother, but you better not break my sister’s heart, Phoenix. She’s a kind soul, and she’s been through enough. As long as you do right by her, you and I are cool.”
“Respect,” I nod. “You ain’t gotta worry about that though. I care for Angel with all of my heart, and I plan on being by her side for years to come.”
“Imma hold you to it,” he nods, a smile finally breaking through.
I return it before letting his hand go and returning my attention to Angel. She’s standing there nervously waiting to see what will happen next. I lightly grab her by the waist and pull her closer to me. I cup her cheeks in my hands and kiss her lips lightly.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sweets,” I tell her as I rub my thumb across her lips. “Call me tonight before you go to bed, okay?”
“I will,” she assures me. We share one last kiss and a hug before she waves bye to Kentrell and then follows her brother to where they’d come from.
“Finally meeting the family is always a great sign,” Kentrell laughs, and I shake my head.
“Let me go change so we can head out,” I laugh, and he nods.
His partners, Emerald and Tahj, were cooking a big meal for all of the firefighters, and I was not about to pass up on their bomb ass food. Emerald and Tahj owned the soul food restaurant that Angel and I loved. I would’ve invited her, but she told me this morning that she was going out to celebrate her niece’s birthday with her family tonight. They were driving to the city to have dinner at one of Kennedy’s favorite restaurants.
I sigh as I head towards my truck to grab my clothes. I changed into the ones I’d worn this morning and followed Kentrell to where everyone was meeting. It was a good time, but I wish that Angel had been able to come. However, I felt much better when she called me later that night. We spent hours talking about everything under the sun.
7
Where There’s Lunch Breaks...
AngelSavoie-June16th, 2025
“Hey, favorite cousin of mine!”
I looked up from the dough I was rolling to see Avery leaning against the frame of the kitchen door with a smile on her face. I return the smile before pulling my gloves off and hugging her. I hadn’t expected to see her today since she and her wife were supposed to head out to the airport for vacation. They were going to celebrate Avery’s twenty-seventh birthday.
“Well, if it isn’t the birthday girl!” I chuckle as we break apart. “I thought for sure that you would’ve been on the plane by now.”
“Tyler had a last-minute emergency at the bistro, so we pushed back our flight to leave later tonight,” she informs me as she puts on some gloves. I put on a new pair, and we get to work rolling out the cookie dough for cookies I volunteered to make for the kids at Kennedy’s summer camp. “What about you? Do you have any plans today?”
“Aside from baking this last batch of cookies and then cleaning up, nothing really,” I reply. I glance at the display case a few feet away and see it’s still pretty full from when I restocked it this morning.
Today has been a slow day, but I wasn’t complaining. It gave me time to make these cookies for tomorrow. The few workers I had on the payroll had gone off to lunch. They asked me if I wanted them to bring me something back, but I declined. I haven’t really had an appetite since yesterday. I hope I wasn’t getting sick or anything.
“Well, what are you doing for lunch? Wanna go grab something with me?” Avery asks.
Before I can answer, the bell rings and we both look to see who’s coming in. My mood lifts when my eyes land on Phee and a few of her buddies from work. They were all dressed in uniforms, and I had to close my mouth to keep myself from drooling as they made their way to the counter. The guys looked good, but I didn’t care about them. It was Phee who had my attention.
“Hey, Sweets,” she greets me with a smile as she leans over the counter. I see Avery smirk at me, and all I can do is smile as I pull off my gloves, tossing them into a nearby trashcan as I walk over to the counter. “Give me some love, beautiful.”
I let her lightly pull my face to hers, and she kisses me softly. I smile against her lips as she deepens it. I had to pull away before it got too steamy. Knowing her, she’d have me laid across this counter and wouldn’t care who saw. As much as I wanted that, I knew that now was not the time.
“What brings you down here so early?” I ask once we break apart. She nods at her buddies.
