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

Chapter 14

14

Leo felt his face heat. He hated being put on the spot. If he wanted attention, he sought it out. He didn’t like it being forced on him as was currently happening. It reminded him too much of all the times his teachers had suddenly called on him in class just to prove that he hadn’t been paying attention. As if Leo were a liar who didn’t own up to his shit. He’d always been the first one to say he’d drifted off, so there was no need for the gotchas they pulled. All it did was make him look stupid in front of his classmates which then caused Leo to act out because if he was going to look like an idiot, he was going to do it on his terms.

Doing things on his own terms was sort of Leo’s entire life motto. Which was exactly why Leo had stopped flying as soon as he could.

Leo fucking hated flying. He loathed it with every fiber of his being. It wasn’t that he was scared of heights or anything. It wasn’t even that he had visions of the plane crashing. It was the feeling of being stuck in a tiny space, unable to move, for a prolonged period of time. It was torture to him, which was why he’d used his job as an excuse not to go on trips. Sure, he’d been forced to volunteer to work holiday shifts and missed out on some family trips to Puerto Rico, but it had been worth it.

His disdain for flying began when he was young. His family used to go Puerto Rico at least once a year to spend a holiday with his mom’s family. The seven of them would have to figure out the best way to travel when there were only six seats in any given row. Leo had almost always gotten stuck sitting with his dad, who constantly berated him for talking too loud, moving too much, and just being an overall pain in the ass. Of course, for a long time no one knew it was due to his ADHD, but by the time they realized it the damage had been done. Getting on a plane triggered him like nothing else. To him it felt like being strapped into a straightjacket and having his legs chained together. Flying to him was the equivalent of getting buried alive, but he’d thought he’d done a better job of hiding that fact.

If the way neither of his siblings would meet his gaze told him anything, it was that he wasn’t as good of an actor as he thought. As he was prone to do when called out, Leo just rolled with it. “I’m not scared,” he said. “I just hate being stuck in one small space for that long. It stresses me out.”

“I feel that,” Liza said. “Small spaces stress me out too, but probably for a different reason than you.”

“You know you can take meds for it,” his cousin Lucy said. He could tell she was trying to be helpful. “There’s no reason to let your anxiety stop you from flying.”

Leo scoffed. “I don’t have anxiety. I have ADHD and those meds you’re talking about probably won’t mix well with my ADHD meds. They’re designed to do the exact opposite things.”

“That’s true,” Kamilah said. “One’s an upper and the other is a downer. Although, I’m sure a doctor would be able to help you find the right medication and dosage. If you’re interested in that.”

Leo wanted so badly to tell them all to mind their own business. If he needed anyone’s advice, he’d ask for it. But he knew that they were only trying to help, it was what his family did. Never mind that often their helpfulness came across as pushy and had the tendency to make him feel like they were talking down to him as if he were too dumb to figure things out on his own. He knew that at least when it came to Kamilah, she wasn’t judging him. His sister was probably one of the least judgmental members of the family, but that was probably because the rest of them had spent too long making her feel like she didn’t have a say in anything important. Ugh, why was it so hard to have a family that was actually functional and not problematic? Sitcoms managed to do it just fine and those had to be based on some real families.

“I’m not interested,” he said. “Anything I want and need is right here in Chicago. There’s no reason for me to trot the globe.” He hoped that his tone put an end to that discussion, but just in case he decided to change the subject too. “Now, who’s ready for watermelon margaritas?”

A chorus of “me” filled the air and Leo got to work.

After the watermelon margaritas came the strawberry vodka lemonade, a classic cosmo, passionfruit mules, something called a Rosa 75 which featured Aperol, pink tequila, and cotton candy, and a spritz he concocted with rosé, a bit of gin, some hibiscus syrup, and pink grapefruit juice. By the end of the night he wasn’t sure which drink had been chosen as the best or even if they’d voted at all. It wasn’t because he was drunk either. After spending hours making drinks instead of drinking them, he was sadly sober. Everyone else was drunk though. Especially his lightweight sister and her equally lightweight best friend.

“I’m so happy right now,” Kamilah was saying. “This is exactly what I needed. Who needs a bachelorette party when I have all of this?” She gestured around herself, sloppily causing herself to almost topple off her stool.

“Nice try, bitch,” Sofi said from her side. “You’re still having a bachelorette party even if I have to kidnap you to do it.”

“Let’s do it now. We’ll help wrangle her into the car,” Lucy said as she stood up and wobbled on her feet.

Leo snorted. Lucy couldn’t wrangle a baby at the moment.

“It’s Monday night,” Alex said. “Where could we possibly go?”

“Son of a bitch,” Ben groaned. “Don’t remind me of the day. I have a shit ton of meetings tomorrow. I’m so fucked.”

Rome helped him stand. “That’s on you, dumbass. No one told you to have multiples of each drink.”

“Who would’ve thought those girlie-ass drinks had so much alcohol in them?” Ben wailed, defending his double fisting.

“You would’ve if you paid any attention to Leo while he was making them,” Liam said from Leo’s left where he was helping clean up the bar. He too was probably sober, since he stuck to sipping his neat whiskey and switched to water once he saw how hard Kamilah was going. He’d used it as an excuse to get water into her system at regular intervals. He’d take a drink and then get her to take one too.

It was one of the many little things Leo had witnessed Liam do to take care of his sister throughout the last year and a half. It made him feel confident that Liam was the right one for her, despite their decades of fighting. It gave him hope that he and Sofi could also make it work.

Speaking of Sofi, she was currently hugging Gabi and Alex goodbye while they all swayed like sunflowers in the wind. They were so drunk.

Over their heads, Saint gave him an accusatory look, but it was ruined by his own rosy cheeks and squinty eyes.

Leo smirked at the idea of his deadly serious veteran big brother getting tipsy on a bunch of pink drinks. “I hope y’all know that I’m keeping these until tomorrow,” Leo told them, gesturing to the bowl where he’d collected everyone’s car keys. “I’ve already gotten you all rides.” He looked at Rome and Ben. “Although, I didn’t know where either of you live, so I put in the brewery.”

Rome waved him off. “That’s fine. I have a pull-out couch in my office.”

“I’m not sharing a bed with you,” Ben grumbled to his cousin. “What are we, six years old again?”

“We aren’t sharing a bed,” Rome said. “I’m leaving your ass there while I walk down the street to my apartment.”

“That’s some bullshit,” Ben groused. “This is why I keep telling you to move out of that tiny studio and get a big-boy apartment.”

“You better not leave him alone,” Liam said. “He might choke on his own puke.”

Ben swung around to glare at Liam but tipped into a table instead. “I never puke,” he claimed.

Both Rome and Liam laughed at that.

“Y’all are assholes,” Ben mumbled as he stumbled toward the door, Rome close on his heels to steady him.

Within moments everyone else followed them out, leaving only Leo, Kamilah, Liam, and Sofi behind. Kamilah and Sofi were both slumped onto each other at the bar and looking like they were ready to pass out. “Come on, you two lushes,” Leo told them. “It’s time to go to bed.”

“Ugh,” Kamilah groaned. “I’m so glad the restaurant is closed tomorrow. I know I’m going to be so hungover.”

“Same,” Sofi said. “I don’t know whose idea it was to drink heavily on a Monday night, but I’m going to have words with them or maybe I’ll just vomit on them.”

Leo stayed quiet because it had totally been his spur-of-the-moment idea, but he honestly hadn’t planned for everyone to get drunk as skunks. He just thought he’d try what Abuelo and Do?a Fina had suggested and create a nice way for Sofi to relax after a long day at the office. But he’d forgotten about the food portion of that plan. By the time he’d realized she was getting intoxicated and hadn’t had dinner, the damage had been done and not even the pizzas he ordered could fix it.

“Oh no,” Kamilah said. She reached out to pat Sofi on the back but missed and swung at the empty space between them.

“I’m okay,” she told Kamilah. “Just feel like I got my bell rung like Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame .” She slid to the edge of her seat. “Do you know that was my favorite movie growing up?” She grabbed the hand that Leo had extended. He pulled her up. “I wanted to be Esmeralda so bad,” she continued. “But then I grew up and realized how fucked up the movie truly was.” She looked at him through glassy eyes. “Did you know how messed up it is? The stereotypes and all that?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Anyway, I was so sad that I wasn’t able to see it in all its glory.”

“The movie?” Kamilah asked, her face scrunched into a frown that reminded Leo of her child self.

“No the real Notre-Dame,” Sofi said. “It’s still under construction because of the fire and so I could only see it from the outside. That made me sad even though the story was terrible.” Sofi propped herself against the bar. “But you know what made me really sad?” she asked.

Leo scooped up the rest of the unused ingredients and looked for the grocery store bag he’d brought them in. Unable to find it, he just stuck everything in one of the small fridges behind the bar.

“What?” Kamilah asked in response to Sofi’s question.

“Everywhere I went, I was sad that you weren’t there, because you were supposed to be there with me, but I was by myself. That made me sad.”

Oh shit. The alcohol was making her extra emotional and talkative. She wouldn’t like that in the morning. Especially if she continued to confess things she would never confess sober.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Kamilah said, gently brushing Sofi’s hair out of her face. “But we’ll go again when the cathedral is open and this time you will know all the tricks and tips so we won’t wander around like a bunch of idiot tourists.”

She smiled dreamily. “We’ll be like real Parisians.”

“Exactly,” Kamilah agreed.

“Kamilah, I want to tell you something I should’ve told you a long time ago.”

Fuck fuck fuck. Red alert. Leo couldn’t know for sure, but something was telling him that Sofi was about to air all their business to his sister. And while he’d always been the first one to say that she needed to know, now was definitely not the time. “Drink this.” He shoved an open bottle of water into Sofi’s mouth, forcing her to spill, swallow, or choke. Anything to get her to shut up.

She shot him a face-melting look and snatched the bottle from his hands but continued to drink.

“You two can go. I’ve got her,” Leo assured his sister.

“I have myself,” Sofi argued when she finished her water. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I’m fine.” She took a few steps; except she didn’t actually go anywhere. She went from one side to the other but didn’t go forward.

“Whoa, slow down, you speed demon,” Leo told her. “You’re practically sprinting.”

“Fuck off,” she told him with an adorable scowl.

Liam laughed while Leo smiled in delight. Something was definitely wrong with Leo, because he loved her sassy side way too much. Whenever she snapped at him, he got hard. It was a real problem, but not one he was looking to fix. “Seriously,” he told Liam and Kamilah. “I’m a good roommate. I’ll make sure Sofi gets tucked in nice and tight.”

Sofi blew a raspberry at him, but Kamilah didn’t. She stared at him with eyes exactly like their mother’s. Maybe that’s why he felt oddly naked when she said, “I know. I honestly wouldn’t entrust her to anyone else.” His sister gave him a soft smile and a kiss on the cheek. She took a few steps toward Liam, who met her and scooped her up. She put her head on his shoulders and closed her eyes, content to knock out now that she knew Sofi was taken care of.

Liam looked at Leo. “Tostón is probably asleep in our bed by now. Do you want to just leave him with us for the night?”

“No,” Sofi groaned. “I want my baby. I can’t sleep without him anymore.”

Leo gasped like an old-timey detective who just discovered the pivotal clue. “I knew you were sneaking him out of the kennel at night. That’s why he cries every time I try to put him in there.” He scoffed, “He just needs to get used to it, my ass.”

Liam chuckled as he carried Kamilah toward the door to their place. “I would’ve expected her to want to make a coat out of a dog like Cruella de Vil, before she’d ever let one sleep in her bed.”

That just went to show how good Sofi was at playing the part of overly ambitious, coldhearted, diva. “I’ll wait for Tostón in the hallway. Just let him out once you get her settled.”

As soon as they disappeared through the door, Leo spun on Sofi and scooped her up too.

“Leo,” she gasped. “Your shoulder! Put me down.”

“Absolutely not, bombón. If I let you walk, it will take us hours to get home even though it’s next door.”

“It’s your fault,” she grumbled, as Leo hit the light switch and walked them out of the automatic locking side door next to the closed garage doors. “You didn’t need to make all those drinks and you certainly didn’t have to make them so good.”

“I actually do feel a little bad about that. I didn’t mean for everyone to get fucked up.” Leo turned the corner of the building and walked them to the back door that led to their apartment. He put her down so he could grab the keys out of his pocket.

“Can I ask you something?” Sofi asked suddenly. Her tone made him a little apprehensive, but Leo wanted to be open and honest with her.

“Shoot,” he said.

She frowned at him. “That’s not funny. It’s too soon. It will always be too soon.”

For a moment he was confused, but then he realized that she thought he was making a joke about his shooting in the alley they were standing in. He had to chuckle because normally that was totally something he’d do. “I meant go ahead,” he corrected, pushing the door open. He went to scoop her up again, but Sofi took off up the stairs before he could. He followed closely so he could catch her if she fell.

“Do you really not want to see other parts of the world or did you just say that because you hate flying?” she asked.

“I guess I’ve had random thoughts like, It’d be cool to go on a safari , or I wonder what it would be like to see the pyramids up close , but to really make firm plans or actually look into it? No.”

Sofi stopped on the stairs and turned to face him. “I used to sit in front of the TV watching all the travel and nature channels for hours and hours. When he was around and not off playing baseball, my tío Manny would watch with me. He used to ask me what places I wanted to see the most. We’d go back and forth like that, naming our top spots.” She leaned against the wall and stared over her shoulder as if lost in a memory. “One day when I was like seven or eight he showed up with this map of the world. We marked all the places we’d visit together when he was done playing baseball.” She gave a sad smile—one full of nostalgia. “I still have that map. It’s in a box of my tío’s things in my closet.”

Leo knew that to Sofi he’d just been her uncle, but to him Manuel “Maserati” Santana still seemed larger-than-life. It was weird to hear about the guy who’d been one of his idols sitting around with a little girl marking up a map of the world and making plans for after a career that others envied. “He’s the reason you want to be a world traveler now?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘now’ as if I never cared about it before, but I guess everything that happened got me thinking about opportunity and wasted time. I’d spent so much time wishing I could go places instead of just going. I don’t want to run out of time like he did. I want to see the places we’d marked on that map.”

Leo’s heart froze. Was Sofi just going to take off again for another year? Was this what she planned to do from now on? What about him? It was obvious that something was happening between them again. What was he supposed to do while she traveled the globe?

“It’s not that I don’t like traveling,” he said. “But I’d rather drive somewhere. Then I can stop whenever I feel the need, get out, and walk around.”

“I feel like I could get into hiking,” Sofi said. “And I’ve always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon.”

“Let’s do it. We’ll take Tostón on a road trip,” he said, relieved that she would meet him halfway.

“Sounds like a plan,” she said with a smile. Although Leo still worried that one day it wouldn’t be enough for her and she’d take off again.

By the time they made it to the top of the stairs, Leo heard the sound of scrambling paws. Tostón skidded around the corner of the stairwell like a car in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift , almost slid into the back door that led to the alley, but corrected himself at the last second and booked it up the stairs to Leo. His whole back half wiggled as he greeted Leo as if he hadn’t seen him in years instead of hours.

“Hey, son.” Leo shut and locked the door. “Mommy’s not feeling good right now, so just be gentle okay?” He swore Tostón knew what he was saying, because he pranced over to Sofi, but didn’t hop up on her like he did to Leo. Instead leaned into her legs and stared up at her in adoration.

Sofi’s hand dropped and stroked his head. “There’s my baby boy,” she cooed. She lifted her head and looked around. “When did we get back to the apartment?” she asked.

“Just now,” Leo replied, coming to stand in front of her. “Let’s put you to bed.”

“I’m not tired. I don’t want to go to sleep,” she said, reminding him of Rosie arguing with Saint and Lola.

He decided to take a page out of their book. “How about this, I’ll go get you some pj’s to change into and then we’ll set up camp in the living room?”

“Okay,” she said.

“I’ll be right back,” he said as he walked around the couch toward her bedroom door. “But I need you to drink the rest of that water. Then I’m going to get you another one and some painkillers.”

She looked at the bottle in her hand as if surprised to see it there. She trudged over to the couch and flopped down. Tostón followed and settled his big head on her thigh. “Leo,” she murmured.

He paused behind the couch. “What, bombón?”

“I don’t feel good.”

Leo leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I know, amor. But I’ll take care of you.”

Her perfect lips curled into a smile.

When he came out a few minutes later with one of her silky sleep sets, her fuzzy socks, her sleep bonnet, and her makeup removal wipes, she was knocked out. He hated to wake her, but he knew she’d be mad if she slept in her clothes and makeup, without her hair protected. He had no choice but to wake her and get her comfortable which is exactly what he did.

After getting her changed and ready, he bundled her up with her knit blanket and a shit ton of pillows. By the time he was done, Tostón was completely covered under the blanket and all that was visible of Sofi was the side of her face. Her eyes were open and looking at him like he was her hero. “I’m kind of surprised that you’re so good at this.”

“Good at what?” Leo asked, as he came back from tossing the wipes in the trash.

“Taking care of people,” she answered, snuggling deeper into the blankets. “I mean, I know you trained as a paramedic, but I just never really saw you as a caretaker.”

“Why wouldn’t I be a caretaker, because I’m a man?”

She scoffed. “No, Saint is probably the biggest caretaker I know and he’s a man.” She turned her head to rub her face in the pillow and suddenly he couldn’t see any of her face. “It’s because you’re like my dad and he for sure isn’t a caretaker.”

What? She thought he was like her father? That was the first he’d ever heard about it. Never in all of their conversations or even fights had she mentioned this before and he was glad. Leo did not like being compared to Sofi’s dad. She didn’t talk about him much, even though they worked together, but Leo knew enough to know that he wasn’t a great father to Sofi or partner to Sofi’s mom. “Why would you say that?” he asked, knowing that he was taking advantage of her vulnerable state but unable to stop himself. This was the type of question she would never answer while in her right mind and Leo had a feeling that this was information he needed to know if they were ever going to work out.

“You two are the same...charming and too handsome for his own good, but at the end of the day not someone I can count on. You have your own things and they’re the most important to you. Which cool. I don’t need someone to take care of me anyway.” She yawned audibly before continuing at a slow-paced whisper. “I take care of myself.”

When it was clear that she’d fallen asleep, Leo slumped back in his chair. Now that he sort of knew what she meant, he liked the comparison to her father even less. It made Leo sound like a shallow and selfish asshole who only cared about his needs and looking good to others. Leo wasn’t like that. At least, he didn’t think he was. He tended to do whatever he wanted to do at any given time, but he didn’t think that made him selfish. Did it? He still showed up to help whenever his friends or family needed it. Yeah sometimes it wasn’t right when they needed it because he got distracted by something else for a bit first or he totally forgot what they’d asked him, but he always came to help eventually. He didn’t maliciously set out to be late or forget to go at all. It was simply how he was and how he’d always been. He’d thought Sofi knew and accepted that about him unlike many members of his family.

He tried to remember any times Sofi had gotten on him for forgetting something or not doing what he’d said he’d do when he was expected to do it and came up blank. Over the years she’d called him out for many things, but never for being unreliable. To know that she’d secretly felt that way for who knew how long, made so much sense now that he thought about it. Sofi didn’t share things she thought made her look weak and admitting that he’d disappointed her would’ve also meant admitting that she cared about their relationship—something she made every effort to not do if she could help it.

Now Leo was left with a chicken versus egg scenario. What had come first? Her not thinking she could count on him or his actions making her think he was unreliable. Did it even really matter? The main point was that she felt she couldn’t trust him to be there for her, take care of her, or place her needs above his own. That was something he was going to have to change and he would. He was going to do whatever it took to make sure Sofi knew she could rely on him.