8. Where There’s Skeletons.
8
Where There’s Skeletons...
Phoenix “Phee” Preston - June 22nd, 2025
“Damn, it smells good out here,” I nod as I hold the door open for Angel.
She climbs out of the passenger seat with a smile. In her hands is a tub of brownies she made to bring with us today. Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone bring brownies to a crawfish boil, but who the hell would ever turn down the chance to have one of her treats? She was so excited about making this new brownie recipe that she tried to perfect it all night. I was with her through the entire trial-and-error process, and when it started getting late, I called to ask my sister if she could watch Nori for the night.
Watching Angel in her element was another level of sexy that I’d never get over. It was the way she’d be so deep in concentration that everything around her would fade. I stood there for a while, just watching her effortlessly add ingredients and mix them as if it were second nature. She was making raspberry, chocolate fudge brownies and, yeah, they were fucking glorious. The way she knew how to combine flavors perfectly had to be a talent on its own.
Then, when it was all set and done, I loved how she lit up. She exuded so much positivity and optimism that it was hard to feel anything other than happiness when you were around her. Her smile, her laugh, the way she made up little songs for every damn thing…it was all so endearing to me. She was cute and fun, and I couldn’t fathom that I’d been living this many years without knowing her.
“Do you think they’ll like my brownies?” she asks as we walk up the driveway to her brother Orion’s house. “God, I hope so.”
“They will, Sweets,” I chuckle as I stop walking. She stops as well, and I turn her body towards me. She bats her eyelashes, and I almost come undone. “Angel, love, those brownies are the fucking truth. Besides, there’s nothing you could ever make that people wouldn’t eat. You’ve got a gift, mamas.”
“You always know just what to say,” she sighs with a smile. I cup her face in my hands and kiss her tenderly before pulling away.
“Now, let’s go get our grub on,” I say as we continue to walk. “I’ve been craving crawfish for a while now.”
She nods as we make it to the back of the house, where everything is all set up. A few kids are running around, and adults are scattered here and there. Angel set her brownies on the dessert table, and then she took me around to introduce me to a few people. Most of them were people her brothers knew, but I also recognized a few others.
Som eone tapped me on the shoulder as we were fixing our trays. I turned to see a smiling Maddox and some guy I didn’t know, but I’d seen him at the cafe a few times. After greeting Angel and me, Maddox introduced us to his boyfriend, Zeelan. I instantly smiled because I loved that for him. I knew that Madd was bisexual, but I’d never met any of his partners before. They seemed to be very much in love from the looks of it.
We spoke with them for a while longer as we continued to pile up our trays with the bright red seafood that I’d been craving since earlier this year. When Angel asked if I wanted to come with her to her brother’s crawfish boil today, I agreed without hesitation. Even though I was supposed to be working today, I convinced Jed to switch days with me because there was no way I would miss this.
I’ve loved crawfish since I was a child. One of my great-uncles owned a crawfish farm further south, and we’d take trips there to help out during spring break every year. It always ended with us having a big boil, which was hands down my favorite part.
Speaking of which, it’s been about a year since I went down there, and I knew I needed to visit that part of my family. I would love it if Angel came with me, but I knew how she got when she was outside and amongst nature for too long. I swear, this woman broke out in hives even if the sun was too bright. I knew she hated it because of how inconvenient it was, but that never stopped her from going out and experiencing stuff. She just had to make sure to keep her allergy medication with her.
“Have I ever told you how much I love this time of year?” Angel asks once we make it to one of the tables and begin to eat. I shake my head, focused on the taste at hand. “Well, I love it so much because this is where all of the family reunions take place. And, I don’t know, I love the idea of people coming together to celebrate the love of family. It’s always so dang nice.”
“Yeah, I get that,” I nod. “Family reunions are great. I mean, I haven’t been to mine in a couple of years, but I was thinking about going this year. I know my extended family would love to see me.”
“Why’d you stop going?” she asks, giving me her undivided attention.
“Uh…well, you know…” I start, suddenly feeling choked up. “When my grandpa got sick, I spent most of my time taking care of him, and then when he passed, I moved away because it was hard being here without him. That day we first met last year was the first time I’d been back in town since his passing.”
“Oh, Phoenix, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
I shake my head before smiling softly. “It’s okay, Sweets,” I assure her. “You didn’t know, but I’m good. Do I still miss him? Absolutely, but I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that he wouldn’t want me to stop living my life. Hell, if anything, he’d want me to keep doing whatever makes me happy.”
“Like firefighting?” She questions, a bright smile gracing her face. I nod, leaning closer to her. I can hear the exact moment her breath hitches, and I can’t help but smile.
“And you too,” I whisper into her ear. I pull back to see the flustered look flash across her face. “Speaking of which, I can’t wait to finally have you in my bed.”
“ You act like that’s my fault,” she smirks, leaning closer. “You’re the busy, sexy, firefighter.”
By now, the food was forgotten, and all I could focus on was the way her curly hair framed her round face like an aura around an angel. She’d taken the braids out a few days ago and decided to dye her hair a honey brown color. It suited her so well, and all I could think about was running my hands through it as she lay in my arms.
“Oh, so you think I’m sexy?” I flirt, stroking under her chin lightly. She nods, her lips stretching into a beautiful smile that showcases her chubby cheeks. “You might just pass out if you saw me in action, I bet.”
“Well, good thing you’re certified in CPR, huh?” She flirts back, and I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face.
“And I’ll save you every time,” I assure her. I kiss her lightly, but she deepens it, and who am I to deny her?
“Damn, I see y’all are here for a different kind of eating,” We hear someone laugh before breaking apart. “Oh, shit! Angel?”
I glance up at the guy standing at the end of the table, and my eyes furrow. I’d never seen him before, but like I said, I didn’t know most of the people at this crawfish boil. They were mostly folks from out of town. When I look at Angel, she suddenly looks uncomfortable and slightly irritated. I couldn’t fully understand what she was thinking, but she wasn’t looking at the guy. I look back over at him with furrowed eyebrows as he stares at her.
“So, am I missing something?” I ask, looking between the two of them. Angel looks up at me with a blank, almost distant expression. What the fuck was going on? “Sweets, you good?”
“ I, uh, I need to go to the bathroom,” she quietly says before standing. She tries to get around him, but he lightly grabs her arm, and suddenly, I’m up on my feet.
“Whoa, nah, we ain’t bouta do that shit,” I say as I step closer to them, snatching her arm out of his grasp. She sighs deeply. “Angel, what is going on?”
“Angel, please stop running away from me,” the guy pleaded. “It’s been over seven years now. Can you talk to me? Please?”
“I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head.
She looked like she was a few seconds away from crying, and I stepped closer to her, pulling her into my arms. She hugged me tightly, and my protective side was activated in full force. I just wanted to get her away.
“Come on, Sweets,” I whisper softly as I guide her away from him.
“Angel, you owe me at least one conversation after aborting my baby,” he yells after us, and it’s like the whole world stops.
I could feel the yard around us quiet as Angel froze in her tracks. I looked down at her and saw her body shaking as if she’d seen a ghost. Soon, her brothers were rushing over to where we were, and I could see her shoulders sag, all of the color gone from her face.
After ushering us inside and away from the crowd, her brother Orion asks the guy, “What the hell are you talking about, Nate?”
“We slept together back when I was in college,” Angel blurts out. The room fell silent, but I could tell that her brothers were furious about this tidbit. “And…I ended up getting pregnant.”
“ Whoa. Whoa, what the fuck?” Orion exclaims as he looks between them. Chris looks equally as confused. “You got my sister pregnant, Nate? And you didn’t think to tell us that?”
“O, I’m sorry you had to find out like this after all these years, but your sister was against telling y’all. Hell, I barely had time to come to terms with it before she made her choice,” Nate tries to explain, and I rub my temples because now my head is hurting.
“Do NOT turn this all on me as if I’m some kind of villain!” Angel argues, glaring at Nate. I could see the rage written all over her face, and I was shocked. It was the first time I’d seen her this upset. “I TOLD you that I didn’t want to be pregnant. I TOLD you that what we did was a mistake, especially because I had no feelings for you. We were young, dumb, and we made a mistake!”
“Yeah, but you could’ve at least talked to me,” he argues. “We could’ve decided together what to do. If you didn’t want it, I would’ve raised them myself. I told you this!”
“Nate, stop lying! Please! I tried contacting you for a week to talk, but you cut me off completely,” She yells at him. “Then, when you waltzed back into my life afterward, talking about how you wanted to be a father, it made me sick. Don’t act like you don’t remember how I broke down, explaining how I felt. I told you how much pregnancy scared me. I told you how I never wanted to go through that. We messed up, and I’ll take partial responsibility for that, but I refuse to let you make me feel bad for a decision I made about MY reproductive system. I wasn’t ready, Nate, and you knew this, so stop trying to make me feel bad. P lease.”
Hearing her stand her ground on her choices made me respect her so much more. I was glad she didn’t let one slip-up change her mind about her stance. However, I didn’t like what Nate was doing, so I made sure to let him know.
“Aye, I don’t appreciate you ignoring her feelings all because you’re in yours,” I finally interject, and he glances over at me. “From what I’m gathering, y’all slept together once, she got pregnant, and she told you why she didn’t want that. Like she said, it’s her body, her choice. At least she was nice enough to let you know before going through with it. Hell, I wouldn’t have…”
He doesn’t say anything but sighs before looking back over at Angel. “We could’ve been so good together, me and you,” he says, and I can see Angel wince. “I would’ve taken care of you and our child. I would’ve given y’all the world.”
“No, we wouldn’t have been good together because there’s no way I would’ve ever been able to love you, and I would’ve resented our child. I would’ve been depressed and miserable, Nate,” she replied calmly, but her voice was shaking as a tear slipped down her cheek. “I couldn’t live like that, and I didn’t want an innocent child to suffer by having a mom who didn’t care. If you cared about me in the slightest, you’d understand that.”
The room goes quiet as her words fall around us. I could see the pain in her eyes as she stared at Nate. I could tell that she trusted him, but was heartbroken by everything that had gone on between them. He looked saddened as the realization suddenly started to sink in. He dropped to his knees and began to sob, apologizing over and over to her. I scratched the back of my neck, uncomfortable.
I w anted to tell him to get the hell up, but I held my tongue.
“I’m sorry, Angel,” he says, looking up at her. “I just wanted to be the man for you, but I see now how selfish that was. Deep down, I knew you and I would never be, but I held out hope. When you got pregnant, I thought it was a sign, and at first, I couldn’t understand how you couldn’t see it. So, when you went through with terminating the pregnancy, I left because my heart hurt too much.” He wipes his eyes before standing. He sighs. “When Orion invited me, I didn’t know that you would be here, but when I saw you, it was like all those emotions came rushing back. I…I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“I don’t mean to get all in y’all’s business or anything, so please spare me the extreme details,” Chris interjects. “How the fuck did y’all end up sleeping together anyway?”
“It was consensual, wasn’t it?” Orion asks, eyebrow raised, as he looks between Angel and Nate.
“Yes, it was,” Angel nods. “It was a couple of months before I graduated. I, uh, I’d never…slept with anyone before, but I wanted to at least once. I’d been struggling with my sexuality for a while by then, and I guess a part of me felt as if I was running behind on some sort of timeline since I’d never dated anyone up until that point either. So, I asked him if he could be my first. It’s stupid, I know, but I knew I could trust him. We wore protection…but…”
“It’s okay, Sweets. I got you,” I assure her as tears fall from her eyes. She was visibly overwhelmed by everything that had unfolded, and all she could do was sob in my arms. She was trembling, the reality of the situation seeming to hit her all at once. I hated seeing her li ke this, and all I wanted to do was take her somewhere away from it all.
So, I did.
I began to gently pull her back outside and towards the front yard. When we make it to my truck, I help her in and get her buckled up before heading to the other side to do the same. It sucked that we had to leave early, but I had to put her peace of mind first.
We drove around for a while in silence before she eventually fell asleep. She looked peaceful, and I knew then that she needed a break from everything. So, I decided now would be the perfect time to give her that. I drove over to her apartment and let the bakery workers know they could close early today. I also let them know that Angel would be off for the rest of the week.
I spent about ten minutes talking with the head manager, and she assured me that everything would be taken care of in Angel’s absence, agreeing that she, in fact, did need a break. I thanked her and left her to clean up and lock up the bakery as I headed upstairs to pack a bag for Angel. I grabbed everything I thought she’d need for a week because we weren’t returning until next Sunday. We’d only be about two hours away at my granddad’s cabin, but still.
Oh, and I made sure to grab her allergy medicine as well.
Once that was all done, I locked up and returned to the truck just as she was waking up. I knew she had a lot of questions, but I told her I would answer them all once we got to our destination. Surprisingly, she didn’t fight me on it. Instead, she settled back into her seat and began to read a book on her Kindle while I drove.
I h ad to stop by the fire station and put in my vacation time, which surprised my uncle and the others since I rarely used it. They were happy to see me finally take a day off and assured me everything would be fine while I was gone. My uncle even came out to officially meet Angel, and he couldn’t stop smiling once I told him we’d be up at the cabin for a few days.
“Well, have fun for me too,” he joked, pulling me in for a hug. “Text me when y’all make it.”
“Will do, Unc,” I assured him with a nod and a smile before climbing back into the truck.
We were finally headed toward our destination, and I called Raven to let her know where we were going, and she assured me that she’d take care of Nori while I was gone. I thanked her and then called Orion to update him on where I was taking his sister. He told me to take care of her and to be safe. I told him that I would.
“You ready to spend the week with me, baby?” I ask, quickly glancing over at her with a smile before turning back to the road. I feel her take my free hand in hers, and I squeeze lightly.
“I’m kind of nervous, but I need to leave this town now, and I know I’ll be safe with you,” she tells me.
“Always,” I nod, taking the entrance to the freeway toward the cabin I spent so much time in growing up.