Page 26 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

She caught them on reflex but the look she gave him was unamused. “That was unoriginal.” She dropped them in the cart.

“The classics are the classics for a reason,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “Are you done?”

“With the produce puns? Yes, for now. But I know how much you love salads so lettuce grab more veggies.” She shot him a look and he grinned. “Okay, now I’m done.”

He followed Sofi while she grabbed tomatoes, cucumbers, and baby spinach. She’d just reached for a bag of prewashed kale when she spoke again. “So you moved into your parents’ old place after living with Saint?” Sofi asked.

“Yeah. He wanted to convert his basement into a garden level terrace for me, but I was ready for my own space by then.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know Saint. He wants to take care of everyone.”

Sofi nodded. “It’s like his superpower.”

“He’s a real pain in the ass about it though,” Leo grumbled. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my brother and I’m grateful for everything he’s done. My whole family has done so much, but—” He cut himself off, unsure of how to continue.

“You feel smothered by it.”

“Yes,” Leo agreed with feeling. “I can’t do anything without one of them trying to jump in to do it for me or reminding me to take it easy. But what am I supposed to do? Tell them to leave me alone like an ungrateful shit?”

“That must be really frustrating,” Sofi said.

It really was. But Leo didn’t want to talk about that anymore. He wanted to continue making Sofi laugh. They were now in the meat area so Leo pointed to the cooler next to him and said in the cheesiest pickup line voice he could muster, “Are you a roast? Because that rump is well-done.”

Sofi stopped walking, so he did too.

He turned and she was covering her face with her hands and shaking her head. Her shoulders shook as she laughed. “I cannot with you,” she said between chuckles.

Leo beamed. “You liked that one, huh?”

She dropped her hands and shrugged. “I mean, it’s an obvious lie—” she turned to the side as if to demonstrate “—but I appreciate the wordplay.”

He was probably one of very few people who knew about Sofi’s body issues. She frequently disparaged her lack of curves and claimed to be shaped like a boy, but that wasn’t true at all. Did she have the pronounced and voluptuous curves of a Kardashian sister in the 2010s? No. But no one would ever call her figure “boyish.” She was sleek and compact like an expensive sports car.

Had Sofi been anything other than Black and Latina, she’d have appreciated the fact. However, both cultures tended to take Sir Mix-a-Lot a little too seriously when he said, “little in the middle but she got much back.” According to many in the communities, the perfect woman needed to have a pronounced hourglass figure with a bubble butt and a flat tummy. Leo didn’t see it that way. He’d dated women of every shape, size, and color, because ultimately the outside of a person didn’t really matter. Not to say that he didn’t harbor an unhealthy obsession with Sofi’s outside too, but it was who she was as a person that kept him coming back. “I see you’re still delusional,” he told her. “That rump is grade A, top choice meat.” He gave his eyebrows an over-the-top waggle.

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, douchey guy fromThe Wedding Singer.” But her small smile took all the sting out of her words. She grabbed onto the side of the cart and started pulling it.

Leo practically pranced behind her like a puppy. “I’ve been doing high protein, lower fat meals, so I’ve been eating a lot of white fish, shrimp, and lean white meats. Does that work for you?”

“Yeah. Red meat tends to make me feel sluggish anyway.”

Leo stocked up and they continued down the refrigerated section, picking up breakfast turkey sausage and regular thick-cut bacon because they both agreed that it was the only acceptable way to eat bacon.

They reached the dairy section and, after grabbing staples, like three kinds of butter, Leo went directly to the cheese. He grabbed a package of the slices and held it up to Sofi. “Would it be too cheesy for me to say that you make me melt?”

She snorted. “Definitely.”

He looked at the shelves behind her where a bright cluster of Activia showed over her shoulder. “Well, you must be yogurt, girl, because I just want to spoon you.” He walked a few feet over and picked up a tub of plain Greek yogurt.

When he turned back Sofi had a gallon of whole milk in her hand. “I know they say milk does the body good, but, damn baby, how much do you drink?”

Leo laughed loudly. “Yes!” he crowed. “That was amazing.” He grabbed the gallon from her and swapped it out for 2%; at her nod he put it in the cart.

Sofi did a small curtsy. “You’re welcome.” She looked around and snagged a carton of unsweetened oat milk. “So now where?”

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