17. Where There’s Rings.
17
Where There’s Rings...
Phoenix “Phee” Preston - October 11th, 2025
“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to come back to work,” Jed says as soon as I walk through the door. I shake my head as I walk towards the office to clock in. “You’ve been gone for a whole week. The bakery has been closed for a whole week. You and Angel must’ve been having a grand ‘ole time down there in Miami.”
I don’t reply, but I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. He was right. We were down there having the time of our lives. We decided last minute that we wanted to extend our stay for the week, so we did just that. Of course, we moved into a more affordable hotel, but we still had a great time.
I wasn’t ashamed to admit that this woman had me wrapped around her finger. If she told me to jump, I’d be in the air before she finished the sentence. If she told me to run away with her and never look back, I’d already have our bags packed and the car gassed up. I knew she’d never suggest anything like that because Tucker was our home, but you know what I mean.
Spending the week with her gave me plenty of time to think about our future together. Yes, I was going to marry her, and I was so anxious to buy the ring and propose, but I wanted it to be special. She deserved that and more.
Were we moving too fast? Maybe, but every day for the last month, all I’ve thought about is how much I wanted her to be my wife. I wanted to wake up beside her. I wanted to hold her as we drifted off to sleep together. I wanted to make her breakfast in bed and be the first to taste whatever new recipes she came up with. I wanted to spend nights in the back of my pickup truck holding her hand as we gazed up at the stars and talked about how we wanted to redecorate the house.
I wanted it all.
“Not you zoning out,” he laughs as I pull myself back to reality. I quickly clock in before heading to change into my uniform. When I finish, he’s still standing in the hall waiting for me to talk. I sigh. “No, don’t act like you’re annoyed. What were you and Angel’s fine ass doing all weekend.”
“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 kn ow, 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 a chick 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, so she 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, I didn’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.”
“Jed, nobody knows what the fuck you’re talking about, as usual,” Kentrell sighs. Jed just laughs.
“Phoenix does. She speaks Korean, remember?”
“Wait, you speak Korean?” Angel asks in amusement, and I shrug, stuffing my hands in my pockets.
“Yeah, a little.”
“A little, my ass,” Jed interjects. “She’s damn near fluent. She and Raven used to go to Korean school with me back in middle school. My parents used to only speak Korean at home for a year straight, so we all learned it eventually.”
“Whoa, really?” Excitement washes over her face. “Can you say something in Korean to me?”
“Sweets, I don’t know...”
“Please?” She asks again, her eyes drawing me in like only they can, and I know that I’m gonna give in to her. “You don’t have to say anything extravagant. I just wanna hear you tell me that you love me…in Korean.”
“Sarang haeyo, Cheonsa-ya,” I say, and she squeals in delight before wrapping her arms around me. She kisses me passionately before pulling away to look up at me.
“I love you, too, Phee.”
All I can do is smile because, like I said, her joy was always so infectious. She made me forget all about the fact that I had a fear of speaking Korean out loud because of the anxiety that I’d say something wrong. Jed was right, I was damn near fluent, but that didn’t mean I was confident. That’s the only reason I hesitated to let that little fun fact about me be known.
One day, I hoped to be a confident speaker, though.
“Y’all in here having a party and didn’t invite me?”
We all turned to see my Uncle Sol standing at the door with his arms crossed. Angel quickly steps away from me as if she were caught doing something. He looked between us and shook his head before walking over.
“I know it’s hard for you two lovebirds to be apart for more than an hour, but Angel, sweetheart,” he says, smiling softly at her, “these knuckleheads need to get back to work.”
“Of course. I’m sorry, Mr. Park,” she quickly apologizes. “I just came to bring some muffins and got carried away.”
“Angel, you do not have to apologize,” he laughs before glancing at me. “I know my niece had something to do with this, right?”
“Sorry that I wanted to kiss my girlfriend, Unc. Stop cockblocking, old man,” I smirk and her head whips around to me.
“Phoenix, I almost told your ass something,” he chuckles, shaking his head. I laugh and pull Angel back into my arms. “Say goodbye to Angel and get back to work, Phee. It was nice seeing you again, love.”
“You too, Mr. Park,” she smiles, and he nods before exiting the garage again. She turns to me and lets out a deep breath. “Your uncle probably hates me deep down.”
“Not at all,” I assured her before kissing her against her temple. “He just likes giving me a hard time, and I give it right back. He actually really likes you for me. You should hear how much he and my aunt go on and on about how well we mesh.”
“Really?” she asks, shocked once again. God, she was so fucking cute.
“Yes,” Jed interrupts. “I swear, y'all are the reason they always give me a hard time about being single. Do y’all think y’all can be a little less cute, please?”
I push him away gently as Angel and I share a laugh. I pull her in for one last kiss before she tells me she’s heading back to the bakery. I walk her to the door and watch until she disappears down the street. When I make it back to the others, they tease me for a bit more before we finally get back to work.
Throughout the day, I found myself zoning out every now and then. Fortunately, we didn’t have any major emergencies, so it was fairly quiet around the station, which left plenty of time for my mind to drift off to other thoughts, like what ring I wanted to get for Angel. I knew she’d want something cute, but all I really wanted was something that would complement hers.
So, when it was time for me to clock out, instead of heading to the bakery, I quickly detoured to Harrison Jewels. If anyone had the perfect ring, I knew it would be them. And even if they didn’t, the owner, Nancy, would no doubt have no problem making me something custom.
As I walked up to the store, my eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of rings that sat in the display near the window. My breath caught in my chest as I quickly entered the shop, greeting Nancy, her daughter, Skyler, and Skyler’s wife, London, who went by Londi. Nancy asked me if I needed any help, and I asked if I could look closer at the rings that had caught my eye. She smiles brightly and goes over to pull them out of the case.
“Here you go, love,” she says as she sets them on the counter. I picked up the ring with the nice-sized diamond and admired it. “This is from my newest collection. I can even personalize them to match your birthstone.”
“This is beautiful, Ms. Nancy,” I tell her with a smile.
“Thank you,” she smiles. “It’s perfect for proposing, by the way.”
I laugh and nod. “That’s exactly what I’m looking for,” I assure her, and her face lights up. “I think I’m ready to take that next step with Angel, and this ring would be perfect for her.”
“Oh, shit, you’re finally doing it?” Skyler asks with excitement. I nod, and she claps her hands before turning to her wife. “Londi, doesn’t this remind you of when we got custom rings done?”
“It sure does,” she nods, smiling at me softly. “Congratulations, Phee. You and Angel make such a lovely couple. That woman is in love with you, and there’s no denying that you’re just as in love with her. I wish you nothing but happiness.”
“Same, ” Skyler adds before pulling me into a hug. I thanked them both before turning my attention to Ms. Nancy, who stood there with a bright smile on her face.
“So, Ms. Nancy, how much for these rings?”
“Well, they start at two thousand, plus any personalization you would like to make,” she states, and I nod again. “Like I said, I can add her birthstone, but I can also do a bit of engraving on the inner band.”
“Okay, yes, I want it all,” I say excitedly.
“Great! Why don’t you come back and we can have a quick chat about the specifics?”
I thanked her before following her into the back. We spent the next thirty minutes reviewing all the small details I wanted to add. She even made a quick sketch of what the final ring would look like, and once I was satisfied, I paid the deposit, and she told me that it would be ready in about three weeks. I thank her once more before making my way out of the shop with my receipt and the fattest smile on my face.
I was only three weeks away from the start of my future, and I couldn’t be more excited.