Page 21 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

He and Papo Vega had virtually kidnapped Abuela Fina. They’d taken her over to see Kane Distillery and returned a short time later looking a bit too pleased with themselves. Now they were sitting at the bar chatting with Liam’s beer-brewing friend whose name she’d forgotten, sipping something that looked amazing while eating a plate of shrimp-stuffed tostones.

“He’s cute, no?” Kamilah’s mom, Valeria, asked her.

Sofi froze before shooting a panicked look at Liam, who Kamilah had left in charge of decision making before heading back into the kitchen for a bit.

Thankfully, Liam wasn’t paying them any attention. He actually looked to be playing a game on his phone.

“I think you should ask him out,” Valeria continued.

Sofi felt like she was going to puke.

“Don’t make that face,” Valeria said. “He’s exactly your type, tall, dark, handsome, and built. With both of your backgrounds and his eyes, imagine the cute babies you’d have.”

Sofi frowned. “What?”

“And according to Kamilah, he used to play professional football, so you know he’s good with his body.” Valeria waggled her eyebrows at her in an expression that reminded Sofi too much of her son.

Sofi released a breath. “Oh, you’re talking about Liam’s friend?”

It was Valeria’s turn to frown. “Claro. Who did you think I was talking about? Leo?” She laughed at her own joke.

Sofi tried to join, but it sounded weird even to her own ears. “Of course not. That would be crazy.”

Valeria turned to Liam. “Mira yerno, does he have a girlfriend?”

Liam looked up from his phone, his face a mask of confusion. “Who?”

Valeria pointed to the man to show Liam who she was talking about.

“Roman?” Liam’s confused frown deepened. “Why would I know that?”

“Isn’t he your friend?” Valeria asked.

“Yes,” Liam answered immediately but his tone still held his lack of understanding.

Valeria pushed. “You don’t know if your friend has a girlfriend?”

Liam gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I don’t know if any of my friends have girlfriends. We don’t talk about that stuff.”

“Y’all don’t talk about it or you don’t listen?” Sofi inquired even though she had a good guess already.

“Does it matter? Either way, I don’t know if Rome is dating someone.” He stood up and walked to the kitchen.

Sofi and Valeria watched him go.

Valeria was shaking her head. “Ay ese muchacho...tan raro.” She looked back at Sofi. “How does he not know anything about his own friends?” She sounded so genuinely flabbergasted that Sofi had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Much like her daughter, Valeria was one of those people who wanted to know everything about everyone. She could and would talk to anyone. Before she was done, she’d know their entire life story. “Come on,” she said to Sofi. “Let’s go join them and we can find out.”

“Valeria,” Sofi drew out. “I’m not looking to date right now. I just got back and I need to get everything together before I even think about guys.” That comment was as much for herself as it was for Kamilah’s mom.

That still didn’t stop her from checking Leo out as they walked up to the little group. He was in a tan-, olive-, and rust-colored floral button-down T-shirt and pair of snug dark khaki shorts that showed off more thigh than necessary. His hair was styled in his usual tousled waves, but his scruff seemed more scruffy than normal. The most different however was the look in his eyes. Leo normally had an ever-present spark of mischief as if he were constantly ready for a wild adventure. Now he looked...not quite serious, but more mature. Like he was grounded or something. She didn’t know how she felt about that. She’d always told him that he needed to grow up, but she’d never wanted something so horrible to be what caused it.

Suddenly he threw his head back in laughter and Sofi saw her Leo. Wait notherLeo, but old Leo, happy-go-lucky Leo.

“Roman,” Valeria practically yelled, giving the man’s name a Spanish flair it didn’t actually have. “I wanted to introduce you to Sofia.”

Everyone in the little group turned around, including Roman.

“We met before,” he said in a pleasantly deep and slightly raspy voice. “At Kamilah’s birthday party. I was a vampire and she was a unicorn.”

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