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

Chapter 8

8

When he’d first come down, after having to take a cold shower, Leo’s chest had felt warm and tight. Nothing made him happier than seeing his family surround Sofi with love and acceptance. As they’d welcomed her back into the fold, Leo had kept a discreet eye on her. She’d clearly been overjoyed to be back with his family. He’d been able to tell by the huge smile she gave everyone and the way she tossed her head back to laugh boisterously.

As the night went on, his feeling of happiness had begun to turn into annoyance. He sat there, a few feet away, listening to her, Kamilah, Lucy, and Liza gossiping together like a bunch of old biddies over a laundry line. Every time they brought up a new guy Sofi either dated or flirted with Leo’s jaw clenched.

How could she blissfully bring up dating and flirting with other guys right after they’d basically dry humped against the wall? He knew what she was doing. She was putting up walls again. She was trying to tell him that kissing him had been a mistake. She had the tendency to throw other men in his face when she wanted him to think she was over him, but it never quite worked out how she wanted because he knew her too well.

“Your sister and her friend just walked in,” Carlos, the main trumpet player, told him.

Leo spun around with a side smile that quickly turned into a scowl when he saw the guy helping Sofi into her stool at the high-top table. Fucking Brandon was still sniffing around, it appeared. Leo couldn’t stand the guy Sofi had met in one of her summer college classes. He reminded Leo of when Steve Urkel would turn into Stefan, sure he looked better and his balls weren’t squished into some tight-ass pants, but it was still clear that he was trying too hard to be something he wasn’t for Laura. That’s what Brandon was, a dork pretending to be someone deserving of a badass like Sofi. What was worse was that Sofi knew it, but she kept bringing him around anyway.

She’d snuggle up under his arm and flutter those ridiculous Snuffleupagus eyelashes at him while laughing at his corny-ass jokes and hanging on his every word. It was annoying as fuck because Leo knew it was fake. Sofi didn’t actually like Brandon. She wanted to because he was the type of guy she thought she should be with, but she wasn’t into him. Just like she wasn’t into any of the guys she dated. She never would be because they weren’t him. Leo knew how that sounded and, yes, he could oftentimes be overly confident when it came to his looks, but that wasn’t what he meant. He and Sofi had something that she lacked with these other clowns. They were connected and not just because of her friendship with his sister. They saw each other. When everyone else only saw what they wanted people to see, he and Sofi could see each other’s true self—the one they used all their ticks to hide from the world.

It pissed him off that she refused to acknowledge that. Sofi wanted to make it seem like they only had a physical attraction, one they kept giving in to by mistake. It made him feel stupid and Leo loathed feeling stupid. It brought out the worst in him. Which was probably why he turned to the band and said, “I want to change our opener.” They all groaned, but they were used to Leo’s last-minute switch ups, so they rolled with it.

A few minutes later, they were ready to begin their set.

Leo stood on the stage watching Sofi sip at her drink with a look of tired boredom on her face. When Brandon turned to glance at her in the middle of whatever story he was telling, she forced an interested smile on her face and nodded like she’d been listening. Leo smirked. It wouldn’t be long until Brandon was kicked to the curb. And if he could help the guy along, all the better.

Marcos, the keyboard player, began the introduction to Marc Anthony’s “Te Conozco Bien” and Leo stepped to the mic and waited for his cue to begin the first verse. “‘Siento pena...’” he sang to the crowd, “‘porque te quise de veras.’” He continued dragging his attention around the audience as he sang the first two verses about how he placed the world at her feet, how he felt bad for her because he knew she still missed him even though she tried to pretend like she wasn’t miserable with some other guy. But when he got to the pre-chorus he looked right at Sofi, telling her that he knew her so well, he was willing to bet that she wouldn’t last one more weekend with her new guy. At least, not without her skin missing... “‘todas mis caricias.’” He dragged out the last word while building power in his voice just so that when he belted out the chorus about how he knew her so well that he knew she would come back to him, it was felt by every person in the room, but especially the stubborn woman glaring at him from the dim corner. He gave her a wink before he continued signing about how well he knew her and how he knew she’d be back because she regretted leaving him and trying to be with someone else.

In the end, it hadn’t even taken another weekend for Sofi to dump Brandon and show up at Leo’s door. She’d shown up that very night. After raging at him for a bit about his audacity she’d climbed right on his lap and rode him until the only feeling felt in the both of them was an exhausted and pleasurable satisfaction. Leo was sure that would be the last time he’d have to call her out in order to get her to acknowledge what was going on between them, but he’d been wrong...like always.

“Tío Leo, are you mad at Tití Sofi again?” his niece asked, making him realize that he’d been scowling at the group for some time while he’d been lost in the past.

“Come here, you little motormouth,” Leo said to Rosie. “I’m mad because I still haven’t had a patented Rosie massage. You’re slacking on your job.” One day after watching Saint force Leo through his PT and OT routine, Rosie had decided that he needed a massage to help his shoulder and arm, so she’d ran into her room to grab her special lotion and proceeded to slather it all over his arm, shoulder, neck, back, and chest. She’d been too scared to hurt him to rub with any sort of pressure, plus she was five, so her massage had accomplished nothing except making him smell like Bubblicious gum. But Leo had let her do it every day for the entire summer anyway, because she’d wanted to help him and she was cute when she frowned in concentration, really thinking she was doing something.

“I don’t have my lotion,” Rosie said, climbing onto the stool next to him.

“Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to wait.” Leo reached over and plopped her on his lap using his good arm. Then he spun them so they were facing Liam behind the bar. “This little monkey needs a kiddie cocktail, stat,” he told him.

Liam scrunched his brows. “A what?”

Rosie’s eyes, so similar to his own, widened in surprise. “You don’t know what a kiddie cocktail is, Tío Liam?” she asked in the same tone she’d used when he’d claimed to dislike snakes. It was like she couldn’t believe her cute little ears.

Leo shook his head in mock disappointment. “The service around here has really slid downhill since I’ve been gone, right, Rosie?”

“There’ve been fewer broken glasses too,” Liam replied.

Leo smirked. “You can’t entertain the masses without a few broken glasses.”

“Did they teach you that in bartending class?”

“Hey, I’m a licensed mixologist now. Put some respect on my name.”

“Whatever, Cocktail, just tell me how to make it.”

Leo explained to Liam how to make a Shirley Temple with tons of cherries for their favorite six-year-old.

Rosie was about halfway done when Saint came up to them. “How many times have I told you not to make her those?” he scolded Leo. “Not only will she be up all night, but she’ll get cavities.”

“I didn’t make that for her.” Leo paused. “Liam did.”

“Tío Leo told him how,” Rosie said happily before taking a long pull from her straw.

Leo shook his head and looked at his brother. “I hope your second child knows how to keep a secret.”

“You know Abuelo told me the same thing when Rosie called him out for sneaking a piece of my jibarito.” He gave Leo a significant look.

Yeah he got it. He was just like Abuelo Papo.

“I’m going to teach the baby that kids are not supposed to keep secrets from their grown-ups,” Rosie said. “That’s like lying and lying is bad.”

“Rosie, do you know what they say about snitches?” Leo asked.

Saint cut him off with a threatening look. He scooped Rosie up from the chair and cradled her against his chest. “Rosie’s going to be a great big sister,” Saint said, pride and love visible in almost every line in his body.

Leo was happy for his brother, he truly was, but for some reason he just couldn’t join in the revelry. He felt weird. Like his skin was too tight and he needed to move. It was a familiar sensation. His leg started to bounce and his fingers began to drum on his knees. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his ever-present exercise ball. He began to flex and release his hand, ignoring the slight pins and needles sensation that traveled up and down his arm.

“Saint, Lola says it’s time for us to go,” Abuelo Papo said, strolling up to them. “We all have an early day tomorrow.”

The next day was the official start to the Fiestas Patronales Puertorrique?as a huge holiday in Humboldt Park. The festival that celebrated the Puerto Rican community happened every June and was a wild time every summer. It spanned a few days and consisted of a parade, a bunch of music, and tons of activities.

“We’re coming,” Saint told Abuelo. “Say goodbye to your tío.” He held Rosie so that she could lean over and give Leo a kiss on the cheek.

“Bye, Tío. I love you. Have a good sleep.”

“I love you too, Snitch. I’ll see you tomorrow and I’ll make you a special drink that has even more sugar than a Shirley Temple.”

“You’d better not,” Saint threatened.

Leo just smiled.

They walked away, leaving Leo with Abuelo Papo only.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Abuelo asked as soon as they were alone.

“What are you talking about?” Leo asked.

“You’ve been sitting here all night sipping on the same drink looking pissed off. Meanwhile, your sister and cousins are over there trying to get Sofi to join some dating app,” he hissed.

“What?” Leo asked loudly, causing a few of the remaining customers to turn and look at him. He lowered his voice. “A dating app?”

“And she said she’d think about it,” Abuelo said. “Have you been doing nothing?”

“I know what I’m doing,” Leo told his grandpa. “She only said that because she’s freaking out.” At least that’s what he was going to tell himself.

Abuelo didn’t seem to believe that any more than Leo did. “Don’t worry. I’m going to call Fina and we’ll figure something out.”

Leo wondered briefly if he should be worried that Abuelo and Do?a Fina were making plans together without him, but brushed it off when he saw Sofi wave her hand at the last of his family member still present and start making her way toward the kitchen.

“Are you leaving?” Abuelo Papo asked Sofi.

“Yeah,” Sofi said. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day and I need to rest up for the shenanigans.”

“I’m leaving too.” Leo jumped up and shoved the ball back into his pocket.

“Leo, throw out the garbage for your sister,” Abuelo told him. “The bags are piling up in the kitchen and it stinks. Sofi can help you. Now I gotta go before that jerk Benny convinces them to leave me stranded.” With that he walked away.

Leo turned to Sofi, who was watching Abuelo Papo leave with a surprised look on her face. Leo got it. It wasn’t often his abuelo made demands of anyone, especially her. “Come on, Nelly Furtado,” he said, making a subtle dig about her being a man-eater.

“After you and those extra snug jeans, Rico Suave.”

“You’re welcome for the view,” he said as he pushed open the swinging doors.

Besides a muttered comment about how it was rude of him to have more ass than her, Sofi stayed quiet as he collected the large black trash bags and opened the back door to the alley. There was hardly a pile like his abuelo had claimed, so Leo didn’t bother handing any to Sofi, but she followed anyway. The kitchen door slammed shut behind them. Leo adjusted the garbage bags over his good shoulder.

“That was really nice of Kamilah to throw me a surprise welcome back party,” Sofi said.

“She missed you,” Leo told her. “Everyone did.”

Sofi swallowed thickly but didn’t respond.

He lifted his elbow to push the gate to the dumpster enclosure open, but a loud scrambling sound from inside had him dropping the bags, hooking an arm around Sofi’s waist and pulling them both away from the gate.

“What the hell was that?” Sofi asked.

Leo held up a hand. “It sounded like an animal.” He took a few steps forward.

“What are you doing?” The alarm in her voice was enough to give him pause.

He shot her a look that was meant to be comforting. “It’s fine. I’m just going to take a look.”

“I swear to God, Leo, if you get bit by a raccoon, I’m going to let your ass get rabies.”

“That sounded too big to be a raccoon.”

“Too big? You mean like a coyote or something?”

He gave her a look. “Sofi, we’re in the middle of the city. There are no coyotes here.”

“Don’t you watch the news? Coyote sightings are the highest they’ve been in years and we’re only a few blocks from a huge park.” She eyed the enclosure with trepidation.

Leo inched closer. “Then imagine the pleasure you’ll get from being able to tell me that you were right and I was wrong.”

“I don’t have to witness you get mauled by a wild creature in order to say that. I get that pleasure on the daily since I’m always right and you’re always wrong.”

He had to smile at that. “Fine, then imagine how much fun it will be to nurse me back to health. You’ll probably even get to see me shirtless.”

She snorted. “Please, if I wanted to see that, all I’d have to do is post up in any part of the apartment. I’m pretty sure you’re allergic to shirts.”

He smirked at her. “Glad you noticed. Although I’m not surprised. I am a perfect example of manhood.” Leo was finally able to see around the dumpster. The problem was that whatever was back there also saw him. It let out a low growl to let him know so.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but once he did he immediately recognized it. He turned his head slightly to talk to Sofi, but didn’t take his eyes off of it. “Well, you’re sort of right,” he told her. “It’s a dog.”

“You’re sure it’s not a coyote?”

“Unless coyotes recently evolved into pit bulls, yeah I’m sure.”

“Pit bulls?” Her voice was high and nervous.

Leo eyed the big block head of the dark dog squatting in the corner of the enclosure. “Definitely a bully breed. I think it’s black.”

He took a step closer and the growling grew. Leo stepped back and slowly raised his hand. “It’s okay,” he spoke softly. “It’s okay, buddy. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“What do we do?” Sofi asked. “Should we call animal control?”

Leo shook his head. “I’ve had to deal with animal control on jobs before. They close at seven. Give me a second.” He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Here. Google how to catch a stray dog.”

Sofi grabbed it. “I don’t know your passcode,” she said.

“It’s your birthday.”

Silence.

“Did you hear me?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she replied. There was nothing but the sound of typing for a minute. “Here’s an article. It says to stay calm, don’t move too fast, and don’t corner it.”

Well, that seemed like common sense. “It probably came in here because it’s hungry.” He kicked the garbage bag nearest to him. The dog growled again. “Open this bag. Maybe it will smell the food and come closer.”

“You open it. I’m not touching that garbage.”

“Sofi, I want to keep my eyes on it in case it tries to run past me. Just open the damn bag.”

She huffed. “Fine.”

Leo heard the crinkling of the garbage bag and so did the dog. It paused in its growling and lowered its head as if trying to see under the gate.

The strong scent of sofrito floated in the air. The dog began sniffing.

“You smell that, don’t you?” he said to the dog. “Why don’t you come check it out?” He raised his hand to motion to come and the dog shrunk back and immediately started growling again. It looked like it was going to try to sneak behind the dumpster. “Fuck,” Leo muttered. “Grab something out of the bag quick and throw it in there.”

“Oh hell no.”

“Just do it.”

“This is some nonsense,” she grumbled, but a second later she told him, “Move. I have a half-eaten pork chop in my hand and I have a strong urge to throw it at the back of your big-ass head.”

Leo bit his lip to keep from laughing and slid over to make room for her. “Toss it to the right. That’s where it is.”

“I can see it,” she snipped at him. “Here. Take your stupid phone.” She practically slammed it into his open hand. Then she waved the chunk of meat in the air. “Look, dog. It’s food. It’s somebody’s already eaten food that I’m touching with my bare hands, but I doubt you care about that.”

The dog sniffed and walked forward a few steps.

“Don’t throw the whole thing,” Leo told her. “Break off a piece and throw it.”

He was surprised when she actually did what he said without argument.

She tossed the piece of meat a few feet in front of the dog. It slunk forward and grabbed it before moving back again, never once taking its eyes off her.

“Leo,” Sofi whispered. “He’s just staring at me and wagging his tail, but I don’t think he’s happy to see me.”

“It’s okay, bombón. Just stay still. Let him sniff at it and come closer.” He glanced down at his phone and saw a link at the bottom of the page that said, “How to identify different tail wags.” He clicked on it and a graphic appeared.

“Leo,” she whispered again.

He watched as the dog inched closer to Sofi, his nose in the air sniffing. “Give me one second,” he said, quickly scanning the page.

“Listen, sir. I totally respect that you’re not interested in dealing with humans today,” Sofi told the dog in a soft but clear voice. “I don’t blame you. Humans are the worst.” The dog stopped and titled its head and raised its ears as if it was listening. “So let’s figure out how to make this work without really having to deal with each other. I’m sure there’s a solution here.”

The tail wag paused for a second and the dog took a few more tentative steps in Sofi’s direction when she said the word “here.”

“Oh. No no, dog. Don’t come over here.” She tossed the rest of the meat in the dog’s direction.

Again the wagging paused as the dog dove forward to grab the food. As soon as it was done the wagging started up again this time a little faster. Leo could see its dangly bits as the dog took a few more steps in Sofi’s direction.

“It’s a boy and I think he likes you,” Leo said. He took a quick glance at his phone to skim the webpage about tail wagging. “Yeah,” he said a moment later. “His tail is mostly down and wagging sort of fast but not too fast.” He looked at Sofi. “Slowly hold out your hand and lower down to your haunches.”

“Are you out of your damn mind?” Sofi asked him. “This is a brand-new Gucci dress.”

“Who told your bougie ass to dress up just to come down here like we care about that shit?”

“This is what I wore to work and even if it weren’t, I dress for myself. Get it straight.”

“Just do it.”

“Ugh, fine.” Sofi lowered herself while holding out a hand. “We’re cool, dog. You don’t need to be scared and you definitely don’t need to rush me and attack my face. I need it to stay pretty, okay?”

The dog stretched its neck and attempted to smell her hand. He took enough steps forward until he was only a few short feet way from Sofi.

“Just like that. Good girl,” Leo murmured warmly.

Sofi shot him a quick glance before quickly turning her attention back to the dog. “I thought you said it’s a boy.”

“I’m talking to you.”

She paused. “Oh,” she breathed like he knew she would. Sofi loved it when he called her a good girl.

“Okay, now I want you to tell him to come to you.”

Sofi took a deep breath. “Come here, boy.”

The dog’s ears perked all the way up and his tail started wagging a bit faster, but it was still low. He took a single step forward.

Sofi perked up too. “Come on, boy. Come here.”

The dog walked up to her hand and started sniffing.

Sofi held perfectly still without Leo having to tell her to. “Good boy,” she told the dog. She slowly turned her hand and let the dog sniff the other side. “That’s a good boy. You’re a pretty boy even if you are dirty as hell. Yeah, you’re a handsome boy. Look at that cute face you have. Such a pretty boy.” She didn’t seem to notice that by the end of her monologue she was full-on using the baby voice.

The dog rewarded her with a few licks to her hand and more tail wagging.

Sofi slowly lifted her hand and placed it on the dog’s head for a tiny pet. “Good boy,” she told him again.

That seemed to be all the dog needed to hear, because he suddenly launched himself at her.

Sofi let out a short scream and Leo hopped forward, but their alarm was unnecessary since all the dog did was rub himself against her and attempt to lick at her face. Well, it was unnecessary on Leo’s part. Sofi was still very much alarmed.

“Shit,” she cried when he knocked her over and she plopped her ass onto the dirty asphalt. “He’s getting dirt and slobber all over me. Stop it,” she told the dog to no avail. “Get him, Leo.”

“I don’t think I should break this up,” he told Sofi with a laugh. “He doesn’t like me, but he loves you.”

“Son of a bitch,” she cursed again. It only seemed to amp the dog up. “Okay. Okay,” she told the dog, pushing him back. “That’s enough.”

Amazingly that worked. He backed off a little bit, but stayed close enough to lean his body against hers. His tail was wagging so hard that his hips were wiggling.

“Aww. He loves you,” Leo teased.

“Shut up,” Sofi said. “You owe me a new outfit by the way.”

Leo laughed and took a few steps forward. “Well, you’re going to be waiting awhile for that, because I’m too broke to afford Gucci..”

The dog watched him alertly but didn’t move away or stop wagging his tail.

Sofi looked up at him from her seat on the ground. There was a smudge of dirt on her forehead and the dog had effectively licked off whatever shiny stuff she’d put on that gave her a glow. She still looked like the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. “So now what?” she asked.

“We try to get him in the house.”

“Our house? Absolutely not.”

Leo ignored how much he liked hearing her say “our house.” “Where else can we put him to make sure he doesn’t run off?”

“I don’t know. Can’t we just walk him around until we find his owners?”

“That’s a great plan. Why don’t you put the leash on him and we can begin?”

“What leash? He doesn’t even have a coll—” She paused. “Oh.”

Leo smirked. “Exactly.”

“Let’s take him inside and see if anyone recognizes him,” Sofi suggested.

“You want to take a filthy stray dog that was just eating garbage into my sister’s busy restaurant kitchen?”

“But what about Liam’s?”

Leo was already shaking his head. “Liam’s allergic to animals.”

“Of course he is,” she said.

“What does that mean?”

“That means that Liam is the kind of guy who’d already own a dog if he could. You know, like the big silent guy with a big strong dog he’d talk to because it was his only friend.”

Leo had to laugh. “I see that.”

“So what are we going to do with him, Leo? You just said that animal control is closed. Are we supposed to just sit here with him while he eats the rest of this trash?”

“Probably not.” He wanted to point out that these were all reasons he’d suggested taking him back to their place, but he knew that wasn’t going to help the situation at all. Sofi needed to think it was her idea or she’d get stubborn about it.

Sofi sighed. “We’re going to have to take this dog into the apartment, aren’t we?”

Leo smirked. “Yep.”

“Fuck.”