Page 28 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

It was a bright and balmy summer day and Sofi tipped her face up to the sky.

“Is it good to be home?” Leo asked.

“I love Chicago. Being gone made me realize that this is my forever home,” Sofi said as they crossed the street. “But it would be a lie to say that I don’t miss traveling. I want to see a whole lot more of the world in the future.”

Leo had never been out of the US, so he didn’t know what it was like firsthand. Plus, he hated flying with a passion. He hadn’t been on a real vacation in years because of it.

“I think my next vacation will be in Asia,” Sofi said, “I’ve always wanted to go to the place in Bali with all the monkeys and the elephant sanctuary in Thailand.”

Leo loved seeing her so animated. Her eyes lit from the inside with excitement. “Tell me about your travels,” he said as they took a seat at an empty bench. “What was it like finally getting to see the places you’ve been dying to see.”

Sofi smiled. “It was amazing.” She paused. “I mean the racism is real in Europe, don’t get me wrong. People would stare at me like I was a street performer and I’m sure they were talking all kinds of shit about the Black girl in their midst, but I wasn’t going to let that prevent me from having a good time. Although I did have to check a few people for trying to touch my hair when I wore it curly.”

He never understood why people did that. Like, why would they think it was okay to just touch someone without asking, especially someone you didn’t know well? He couldn’t count the number of times random people thought it was totally cool to touch his arm when he’d still had it in a sling. Sure, they’d reach out like they wanted to rub it in comfort, but WTF. It was weird. “What was your favorite?” Leo asked. “France?”

“Actually, I loved Iceland. It was freaking gorgeous and the people there were very nice and chill. Of course, the food in Italy made me want to weep with joy. I did actually weep with joy when I finally saw the Eiffel Tower.”

She continued talking about things she’d seen and people she’d met.

Leo couldn’t help but smile. Ever since they’d met, Sofi had talked about traveling the world. Listening to her recount watching the changing of the guard in front of Buckingham Palace and swimming in the crystal clear waters off the coast of a Greek island, reminded him of the girl she’d been—full of hope and possibility.

“I’m so glad you were able to experience all of that,” he said. “You deserve to see everything you want to see and go everywhere you want to go.”

She just looked at him and smiled. Then she sobered. “I was already gone when you got shot,” she told him.

“I figured you were away,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I am worried about it because the other day you brought it up.”

“I was just talking out of my ass,” he tried to say, but Sofi had always seen through him.

She reached over and laid a hand on his arm. “I had already been in Paris for weeks, but I still should’ve done more than send you an email. I owed you that much.”

Leo shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything. You never have.”

“I did and I do. You’re important to me, Leo. Even when we’re fighting. You’re not nothing.”

Leo closed his eyes and turned his face away before she could see the moisture build up. It had hurt when she’d sent him a damn email then blocked his ability to reply. Even now he hated that it took him getting shot for her to say that he was important to her. He wanted to be happy that he’d finally heard the words aloud, but it reminded him too much of how much everything had changed. She was different and so was he.

He cleared his throat. “Well, what’s done is done. Let’s not talk about that anymore.”

Any other time, Sofi would push. He knew she would, so when she simply said, “Okay,” he took it as more proof of change.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked after a moment of silence.

Sofi tensed. “I guess.”

“What made you decide to make up with Kamilah? You were dead set against it when you left.”

“Honestly, when I left I still felt super salty about everything. I was resentful, especially because she and Liam were back together living their best life like they hadn’t completely blown up the foundation of everyone else’s life. Meanwhile I was stuck hating my job and unsure of who I was. As time went on, I told myself to get over it, resentment wasn’t a good look for me, and I needed to focus on living my own best life instead. I did and I found all of the anger melting away. Then I realized that I was at fault too. Neither one of us trusted the other like we should.”

Leo knew better than most how important trust was to Sofi. She didn’t trust a lot of people. He could probably count them on one hand. When she did offer it, it was a gift. His sister had basically thrown that gift in her face. He got it now. “And what about me?” he asked. “Did your sabbatical change the way you feel about me?”

“Leo.” She sighed. “Can we not? This whole roommate thing is weird enough without bringing up our past and I don’t want to fight with you right now. We have to get through Kamilah’s wedding.”

It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but she hadn’t told him to fuck off, so that was good enough for him for now. He didn’t say anything else. He just sat there enjoying the weather, her company, and the sweet hope of possibility.

7

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