Sleeping with the Frenemy (Vega Family Love Stories #3)

Chapter 7

7

Sofi hadn’t even been living with Leo for a week and already she was losing her mind. She placed all of it solely on the head of her new roomie. She’d expected to barely see him since he’d claimed he’d be working at the CFD headquarters most days or in the distillery with Liam. On top of that, he’d had band practice with Los Rumberos every day to prepare for their set at the upcoming Puerto Rican festival. However, it felt like every time she turned around, there he was. And he was incapable of wearing a shirt. She knew the apartment didn’t have central air-conditioning, but he didn’t have to walk around half-naked all the damn time. She’d almost taken to hiding in her room, but fuck that. She wasn’t a kid in a time-out, she was a grown-ass woman who was completely capable of keeping her eyes, hands, and other body parts to herself. If only he’d stop with the guitar playing.

She could hear him strumming in his room from her current spot at the dining room table, or as Kamilah had taken to calling it Wedding Central . She had her laptop, a notebook, and tons of wedding magazines in front of her. The first thing she’d learned upon getting in touch with the planner at the old reception hall was that Kamilah had been taken advantage of. The venue had added their own fees on top of those charged by the vendors they partnered with, and the quality was trash. After negotiating a full refund plus a little something extra for the last-minute inconvenience, Sofi had ditched all of their old vendors for her own. Now she felt like, at the very least, she’d gotten her friend a better deal than she’d had before. It was enough to get rid of a tiny bit of her nerves. Sure she was still having anxiety-influenced nightmares about everything going wrong, but that was a personal problem.

She heard the door to Leo’s room open and a few seconds later he stepped out of the hallway, sans shirt and guitar in hand. “Oh hey,” he said upon seeing her at the table. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yeah, I’m just trying to get some planning done.”

“Do you mind if I sit out here and practice for a bit? My amp and mic are out here.”

“Sure,” Sofi said even though the last thing she needed was to be serenaded by Leo whether he knew he was doing it or not.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Because you sound irritated.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Uh-oh. Every man in the world knows that fine means not fine.”

“Leo, just sing your songs,” she told him.

He smiled. “As you wish.”

Oh hell no. Now he was using The Princess Bride on her? He was conniving.

Things only got worse when he began to play the guitar and she immediately recognized the song he was about to sing. Oh, that underhanded motherfucker.

He knew how much she loved DLG. In their on-again phases, she was constantly telling him that he had a soulful voice like Huey Dunbar’s. This specific song had him singing to her about a man who still wants a woman despite her saying that she doesn’t want him.

As soon as he began singing the chorus Sofi had to squeeze her thighs together.

“‘Mas yo si me enamoré. Por eso no te olvide...’” he crooned, his voice drenched in warmth, sweetness, and passion, all while maintaining eye contact with her.

Evil. Evil. Diabolical man.

He had no right to sing like that. Sofi soon fell into what basically amounted to a horny trance, as was usual whenever she listened to Leo sing. She felt hot and tingly in all of the naughty spots and couldn’t focus on anything but how good listening to him made her feel. So good that it took her a long while to realize that his guitar playing was off. It was still really good by anyone’s standards, but his normal smooth and embellished style was currently a bit jerky and stilted. She wasn’t a musician at all, but she could tell that he was slightly off tempo and missing notes. She looked at his long fingers which usually played along the strings like a graceful kid jumping from stone to stone across a creek. Now they moved more like a toddler wearing their parent’s shoes.

She looked at his face and noticed his skin was pale and covered in a thin layer of sweat. His brow was furrowed and there were lines of tension around his eyes. Usually, he looked lost in the music as if he were channeling it from some other dimension. Right now, he looked like he was fighting with it, dragging it through kicking and screaming instead of simply letting it flow.

The song ended and Leo lowered his head. He was flexing his fingers and breathing in and out a bit too quickly.

He’s in pain , Sofi thought. She hated seeing him like that. “Leo,” she murmured.

He shot out of his seat, practically tossing his precious guitar onto the couch next to him. “I have to use the restroom,” he said and stalked down the hall.

Sofi stood and followed. “Leo,” she said again, but he didn’t stop. “Corazón.”

At the sound of her nickname for him, he spun on his heel. “Don’t.” He pointed a finger at her. “Don’t you dare pity me,” he barked.

“I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Are you serious right now? I was shot. I almost died. I lost my dream job. I spent the last year putzing around doing a bunch of bullshit. Meanwhile, my dominant arm won’t do what I want it to do when I want it to. I can’t even assure my only sister that I’ll be able to sing and play for her first dance like I promised her I would when we were kids.” He shook his head. “My body was the only part of myself that I could count on and now I don’t even have that, so no, Sofi. I’m not fucking okay.” His chest rose and fell with each huffing breath. His fists were clenched at his sides as if he were preparing for a fight.

Sofi knew that he wasn’t mad at her. He was mad at the situation and at himself for being upset. Since she’d first met Leo, it had been clear to her that the surplus of ideas and imagination Kamilah possessed, he contained equally in the form of positivity and humor. Leo didn’t do deep thinking or philosophical conversations. He was witty, irreverent, and more than a bit impulsive. He just wanted everyone to enjoy life to the fullest and was prepared to act a clown to help them along. He was the perpetual good-time guy and a performer down to his marrow. Leo didn’t struggle with existential crises, he just kept letting the good times roll. It was what caused Sofi to call him an immature man-child many times throughout the years.

To see him like this now, struggling with his place in his own life, caused her pain almost as sharp as what he had to be feeling. She didn’t like seeing Leo doubting himself or his capabilities. It pained her to know that he felt like he couldn’t trust himself. Sure, he was a bit forgetful about certain things. Sure, he tended to focus on the wrong things at the wrong time and had issues with impulse control. But Leo was far from untrustworthy. Leo was very loyal and honest. He didn’t have the ability or patience to pretend to be anyone other than himself. It was one of the things she liked most about him even when he pissed her off. Leo was Leo in any situation and the Leo she knew was more than trustworthy.

She decided to honor his honesty with some of her own. “I’m terrified of public speaking.”

“What?”

She nodded. “Whenever I have a presentation I have to prepare it well in advance because I have to memorize everything I’m going to say. I practice it over and over in the shower, the car, before I go to bed...any time I’m by myself.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I had speech problems when I was little. Barely anyone could understand me, so I had speech therapy for years before we moved to Chicago. A part of me is always scared that they’ll come back when I least expect it and I’ll make a fool of myself. I guess that means that it’s more me being terrified of looking foolish, but having to get up in front of people and talk makes me want to hurl. Every single time.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I want you to know that I get it. I understand you wanting your brain and body to do something that they refuse to do. When I’m forced to speak in front of people, especially if I haven’t had the time to prepare myself, I start to tremble from head to toe, my mouth gets dry, and the words I had in perfect order start to bounce around in my brain causing my tongue to get all tangled. It gets difficult to breathe and sometimes I’ll even get dizzy. It’s scary and it sucks.”

“Yeah.” He nodded, looking down at his feet. “It really does.” He looked back up at her. Then he took a few steps toward her, bringing them face-to-face. He lifted a hand to cup her cheek and slowly leaned in to give her one soft kiss.

Sofi felt all of the same shaky, trembling, and dizzying feelings she felt when she was nervous, but instead of being cold and clammy, she was warm and almost cozy. She felt the same way she did when she stepped into her mom’s overly warm apartment after a trek through a windy Chicago winter night. She wasn’t exactly comfortable yet, but she knew she was safe and comfort would come soon. It was more than a little alarming that Leo kissing her felt like home.

Finally he leaned back. He stared into her eyes. “Thank you for telling me and I’m sorry I was an ass.”

Sofi bit her lip, but her smile formed anyway. “Leo, if you’re going to start apologizing for being an ass now, we’ll be here forever.”

He smiled and let out a chuckle. “Facts.”

Both of their smiles fell as the vibe changed. Suddenly they were in each other’s arms. Their lips crashed together. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pressed her up against the wall, never once letting his lips separate from hers. The moment her back hit the wall, Sofi hopped up and wound her legs around his waist. He caught her with his uninjured arm. His other one dropped to her bare thigh then slid up and under the skirt of her dress to grab her ass. She bit his full bottom lip and he bit hers back before sucking it into his mouth. Sofi groaned. This was the kind of kiss Leo usually gave her, the kind Sofi had been fiending—deep, wet, and just the tiniest bit aggressive. It was decidedly not safe, but damn was it good.

A loud knock at the door brought Sofi back to herself. She dropped her legs and pushed Leo away.

“Bombón,” he groaned, looking like he was going to snatch her back.

She held up a hand.

He stopped. The look on his face was part confusion, part lust.

“Someone’s at the door,” she said, turning to go open it. She adjusted her dress and wiped around her lips to make sure she didn’t have gloss smeared all over her face. All the while she yelled at herself, What the fuck are you doing, you idiot? You did not just spend a year across the ocean trying your best to forget this guy just to jump right back in the sack with him as soon as you get a chance. Exactly. The last thing she wanted to do was fall back into the toxic fuck-and-fight relationship that they’d had for over a decade. She’d done too much work on herself for that. Nope. No way. She’d told him before she left that she was done and she’d meant it.

She took a deep breath and then opened the door.

Kamilah stood on the other side in a black chef jacket and matching pants. Her hair was back in a tight bun and although she had on zero makeup she looked more like a model pretending to be a chef than an actual chef. “Hey, girl.”

“What’s up?” Sofi asked, stepping back to let her in.

Kamilah stayed in the hallway. “Come down. I have a surprise for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes. Who else would I be talking to?”

Sofi turned to look in the direction of Leo’s room, but he was nowhere in sight. “Uh. Do I need to change first?” She still had on her dress from work—a sleek satin wrap dress in a vibrant burgundy, beige, brown, and fuchsia floral print with pops of green and purple.

Kamilah checked out her outfit. “Well, you need shoes, but other than that you look great. Unless you want to wear something more casual. You know we aren’t fancy around these parts.”

“This is fine,” Sofi said, reaching down to grab her nude—for her skin tone—ankle strap and heeled sandals. She slipped them on.

“Is Leo home?” Kamilah asked.

“I think so,” Sofi said, even though she knew very well that he was. “Maybe he’s in his room?” She grabbed her keys off the table and stepped into the hall.

“You haven’t smothered him in his sleep yet?” Kamilah asked.

“No, disposing of a body is too much work.” Sofi followed Kamilah down the stairs. “Especially when there are always people around.”

Kamilah chuckled, but sobered quickly enough. “But seriously, how has it been so far? I know this isn’t what you want, but I hope it’s not too bad.”

“It’s been fine,” Sofi assured her. “Besides the times I made him show me the new things in the distillery, I hardly see him and he’s been on his best behavior. It’s almost like he grew up or something.”

They reached the door that led to the kitchen and Kamilah reached out to grab the handle. “He really has,” she told Sofi. “Leo’s always been a firm practitioner of the ‘work hard, play hard’ credo, but now he mostly just works hard. It’s kind of worrisome actually.”

They bypassed the staff and machinery in the kitchen. Sofi felt a bit awkward seeing that she didn’t recognize anyone when she used to know everyone including a bunch of the customers. “We all have to grow up sometime,” Sofi said. “He couldn’t be Peter Pan forever.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Kamilah paused outside the swinging doors. “I just wish he seemed happier about it.” She put a hand on Sofi’s back and pushed her through the doors.

The first thing Sofi registered was a mob of colors that eventually took the shape of Vega family members. The second thing was the yelling. There were shouts of “surprise,” “sorpresa,” “bienvenidos,” and “welcome home” all at the same time.

Kamilah closed her eyes and shook her head. “I should’ve given them more specific instructions.”

“This is perfect,” Sofi exclaimed, her hands at her chest. She blinked rapidly, because there was no way she was going to let anyone see her cry. “Thank you.”

“Sofi!”

“We missed you so much!”

In a second she was enveloped in two pairs of arms. Lucy and Eliza squeezed her with all their might. Kamilah’s cousin and her wife were the other two members of Sofi and Kamilah’s little crew, but Sofi had abandoned them when she’d made her break from the Vegas. She felt terrible about it now. They hadn’t deserved to be left on read. “I’m sorry, y’all. I should’ve responded to you. Cutting you out of my life wasn’t fair.”

Lucy waved her off. “Please, do you think we don’t wish we could take a break from the family by just disappearing for a year? These people are animals.”

“Besides,” Liza said, “you saved us a bunch of awkwardness. Can you imagine how annoying Kamilah would’ve been if you’d talked to us and not her?”

“Hey!” Kamilah said.

“You know it’s true, but we love you anyway,” Liza said, pulling Kamilah back into the hug.

Kamilah grimaced. “It is true. I would’ve driven them crazy.” She hugged Liza. “And I love your rude ass too, Lizzo.”

“Liza,” Lucy immediately corrected. She hated Kamilah’s nickname for her wife even if her resemblance to the famous singer made it fitting.

Sofi didn’t know why Lucy hated it so much. If she had a wife that looked like Lizzo, Sofi would tell everyone. Both she and Kamilah had said that so many times that it was basically a running joke between them all. “It’s good to be back,” Sofi said.

“Okay, okay. Enough hogging the guest of honor.”

Sofi turned to see Kamilah’s dad, Santiago, standing there.

He held out his arms. “I want to give my other daughter a hug.”

Sofi pulled herself away from her friends and practically dove into his arms. She knew that he had a tendency to be a bit too hard on his kids, especially Kamilah and Leo, but Sofi loved Santos Vega. He’d always made her feel welcome and went out of his way to talk to her. He’d ask her about school, her plans, and books that they’d both read. He’d given her advice and praise. She was positive that he’d done it because he’d known she didn’t have a dad around most of the time, but that just made her like him all the more.

“It’s good to have you back,” he told her in Spanish. “You were very missed.”

Valeria stepped up beside him and Santos let Sofi go so they could hug. “It’s true,” she said. “No one can wrangle Kamilah and Leo like you can.”

“Hey, I’ve been very good lately,” Kamilah said.

“That’s true,” Valeria agreed. “That medicine has really helped you.”

Sofi shot Kamilah an alert look. “Medicine? What medicine?”

Kamilah’s expression said, Well... “I’m sure this won’t come as a huge shock, but I have ADHD.”

“Really?” Sofi asked, although looking back she could see a lot of the signs.

“Thankfully my therapist suggested I get tested. It took a while and then it took even longer to find the right medication and dosage, but now I’m good.” She paused. “Well, not good good, but way better.”

“Good for you, going to therapy and getting your mind right,” Sofi told her and she honestly meant it.

“Thanks, but that’s enough of that for now. Everyone wants to say hi to you.”

Sofi made her way through the group, saying hello and receiving welcome from the other members of the Vega family present.

“Tití Sofi!” a little voice cried. Sofi knew the voice well. They’d spent a lot of time together on account of Kamilah practically being Rosie’s surrogate mother. She ran over and jumped.

Sofi caught her mid-leap. “Rosie, baby girl, you’re so big!”

“I’m six now,” Rosie told her proudly. “And I know how to read.”

“Do you?” Sofi asked, repositioning Rosie on her hip. “That’s great. Now I can buy you a bunch of books.”

“Okay,” Rosie readily agreed, but at the same time Saint said, “That’s not necessary. She already has a library of them all over the house.”

Saint stepped up to Sofi and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said.

Sofi gave him a soft smile. “Thanks, Saint.” Saint had always treated Sofi like another sister and she treated him like a beloved big brother. Sometimes she’d wished that he was the brother she fell for, but he didn’t deserve a hot mess like her.

“I want you to meet Lola, my girlfriend.” He gestured to the woman standing slightly behind him.

Lola was pretty with intense eyes that didn’t match the sprinkling of freckles across her face. She had curves for days and the kind of fashion sense that reminded Sofi of New York City street style. She liked her immediately.

“Hey, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Lola held out a hand and Sofi maneuvered Rosie to her other hip to grab it.

Sofi was embarrassed. “I’m sure it wasn’t the best.”

Lola shook her head. “Nah. It’s always been clear the family loves you.”

“Of course we love her,” Papo said, coming forward to wrap his arms around Sofi and Rosie. “She’s family. Verdad, mi Rosita?”

Rosie nodded vigorously. “Want to meet my new abuelo Benny?” She asked Sofi as she wiggled to get down.

Papo huffed and muttered under his breath while another old man, who she assumed was Benny, strode over with a smug smile.

Rosie grabbed Benny’s hand and tugged him forward. “This is Tití Sofi,” she told him. “She was mad at us for a long time, but now she loves us again.”

There was a moment of awkward silence in which no one knew what to say.

“There you are, you little lazybones,” Leo’s voice suddenly called out. “Get over here and give me one of your special Rosie massages. You’re overdue.”

Rosie let out a world-weary sigh and rolled her eyes. Then she looked at Sofi. “Tío Leo always wants me to rub his shoulder. He says that it makes his arm feel better, but I think he just likes my bubble gum lotion.”

“Or maybe you two just love each other so much that being with you really does make him feel better.”

Rosie appeared to give that some thought. “Papi did tell me that love is like magic and that’s how he and Lola made me a baby.”

“What?” Benny exclaimed. He spun around and looked at Saint and Lola, who were watching everything with wide panicked eyes. “Is it true, Lolita? Are you pregnant?”

Saint stepped forward. “We definitely didn’t plan to tell everyone like this, but yes, Lola’s pregnant.”

Cheers of “Wepa!” sounded and applause broke out. People rushed forward to congratulate the parents-to-be. Valeria sobbed in happiness uncontrollably. Santos pounded Saint on the back and kissed Lola on the cheek. Behind her, Sofi could hear Kamilah also blubbering into Liam’s chest and saying how happy she was for Saint and Lola while Liam tried to calm her.

Once again Sofi was reminded of how much had changed since she’d been gone. She didn’t know why it was so jarring to her. Obviously, life didn’t pause in Chicago while she was in Europe. However, it was still a lot for her to wrap her head around. There were new family members in the Vega clan, Valeria and Santos no longer lived in the neighborhood, and everyone’s personality had changed the slightest bit. It was enough to make her feel like she was trying to fit into a pair of jeans that used to be her favorite but now felt off—like the seams had been altered without her knowledge. It made her question if she still belonged. Oh great. Now she’d just given herself another thing to fret about and try to fix.

Suddenly, a body pushed up close behind hers.

“Quick,” Lucy’s voice said near her ear. “Hide me before my mom comes to ask me how Saint is having his second kid when I don’t even have one and have been married for almost a decade.”

Sofi laughed. “Haven’t you told her that you and Liza aren’t interested in being parents?”

“Many, many times,” she responded. “But she seems to think that if she brings it up enough, we’ll change our minds.”

“My mom is the exact same way,” Liza said, coming up to stand beside her wife. “They just don’t understand that we are still a complete family even without children.”

Kamilah strode up shaking her head, clearly having heard what they said. “It’s real funny how quickly things go from ‘you better not get pregnant, because I’m not raising any more babies’ to ‘give me some grandbabies before I’m too old to enjoy them.’”

“Facts,” Sofi said while throwing up praise hands. “My mom told me that if I didn’t want to find a man and get pregnant, I could always adopt and she’d help me raise the baby. As if a lack of man is the only reason I’m not popping out offspring.”

“Mothers,” they all said at the same time before bursting into laughter.

“Speaking of finding men,” Liza said after they’d all settled down. She gave Sofi an expectant look, eyes wide and eyebrows up.

“What?” Sofi asked.

“Obviously we want you to tell us about the sexy French men you met while in Paris,” Lucy nudged her with an elbow.

“Or sexy Greek men,” Liza said.

“Or sexy Italian men,” Kamilah added, which started a round of them throwing out nationalities.

“Or sexy Spanish men.”

“Sexy Scottish men.”

“Sexy Irish men,” Kamilah said with a dreamy sigh, obviously thinking of her own sexy Irishman.

Sofi jumped in before they could go through all fifty European countries. “Y’all know that white European men are really not my jam.”

“Okay, but there are plenty of brown-skinned immigrants and I bet their accents are to die for,” Lucy pointed out.

That was true. “Well, I did go on a few dates with this gorgeous Nigerian guy who had a British accent à la Idris Elba. And there was also this fine-ass Palestinian Chilean guy at my job who liked to flirt with me in Arabic, French, English, and Spanish.”

Excited squeals abound.

“Tell us everything,” Kamilah demanded. So Sofi did.