Page 10 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

“But nothing. If you have enough time to sit here being a clown in front of your sister’s new friend, then you aren’t busy enough.”

Leo stood. “What about the test?”

His dad sighed again. “I’ll sign it.” He scribbled his name across the top and held it out. “But, Leo, you’re grounded. A ver si así se te acaban las payasadas.”

Leo knew better than to argue about the injustice. All because this new girl had to open her mouth and act like he was being rude to her when she was the one with an attitude problem.

He stomped out of his dad’s office not bothering to check his pace. When his shoulder slammed into Sofia and almost sent her flying, he swallowed the urge to apologize. She’d just made an enemy of the wrong guy, bright eyes or not.

That was the day their heated back and forth had begun. Now, all these years later, they were still at it. Although things between them had gotten a lot more steamy than they’d been back then. It was hard to believe that they’d been playing this make up/break up, fight/fuck game since high school and it was still a secret to almost everyone they knew. Honestly, he was sick of it. He’d gone along with it for so long because that was what Sofi wanted. But the game had gotten old a long time ago. He was in his thirties. And if there was one thing getting shot, dying for a minute, and then almost losing his arm had taught him it was that he was too old to be playing games. He had spent the last year getting his shit together. He couldn’t wait around for Sofi to open her eyes and see what he was offering her. It didn’t matter what he felt for her, enough was enough.

Of course, that was a lot easier said than done, especially when he was standing in front of her and she was looking like his fantasy come to life.

“Don’t worry, Kamilah,” Mandy was saying as she patted his sister on the back. “Leo will be around to help make sure everything with the reception goes off without a hitch.”

A record scratch sounded in Leo’s head.

“What?”

It took him a second to realize the word hadn’t come out of his mouth, but Sofi’s.

Mandy smiled like a proud mom. “Leo is the manager of the new bar, so he’ll obviously be helping you organize everything here.”

Sofi simply blinked. Her face didn’t show it, but she was not happy about that fun fact. It was all the reason Leo needed to keep his mouth shut instead of arguing that he didn’t want to do it either.

“Oh, that would be so great,” Kamilah said with a hand on her chest. She turned to Sofi. “It would make me feel much better if I knew you weren’t tackling this all alone.” She then gave Leo a serious look. “And Leo will be on his very best behavior. Isn’t that right, Leo?”

Leo rolled his eyes. “I’m a grown-ass man, Kamilah. I can do my job even if it means working with a bad-tempered Iris Chacón.”

“Leo,” Liam intoned—a warning to take it easy.

Fine. He’d play nice. For now. “Look, not only am I the manager, which means it’s my responsibility to make sure this goes off perfectly, but I’m hardly going to ruin my little sister’s wedding to be petty. I’m not an asshole.”

Sofi raised a brow, but Kamilah and Liam looked chastened for even doubting him. They knew better than most how much Leo had changed.

“Come on, dear,” Mandy said to Kamilah. “Let’s get you cleaned up and put a drink in your hand. Meanwhile, Leo can tell Sofi about everything the Tasting Room now offers.” She led his sister out with a hand on her back while Liam followed closely, pulled by the invisible rope that prevented him from going too far from Kamilah’s side.

Leo continued to stare at Sofi.

“What?” she asked him with enough attitude to put him immediately on defense.

“What, what?” he asked.

“You obviously want to say something to me, so just do it already.”

He had a moment alone with Sofi after over a year of silence. He wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. “What does this mean?” he asked.

“What does what mean?” she asked back.

“El gran regreso de Sofia Maria Rosario Santana,” he said while lifting his hand and moving across his face like he was reading a title off a marquee. “You’re here in your finest armor. You’re hugging all over my sister and not only agreeing to be her maid of honor but volunteering to plan her new wedding reception even if it means working with me. That seems odd for someone who was completely done with all of the Vegas.”

She crossed her arms and lifted her pointy chin. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Are you sure about that?” Leo asked, ignoring the way he wanted to bite that proud chin. “Because I feel like our history would warrant at least an explanation.”

She drew herself up. “Our history is just that. History. I came back because I missed my best friend.”

He stepped up close to her. “And what about her brother? Did you miss him too?”

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