Page 29 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

Sofi hadn’t even been living with Leo for a week and already she was losing her mind. She placed all of it solely on the head of her new roomie. She’d expected to barely see him since he’d claimed he’d be working at the CFD headquarters most days or in the distillery with Liam. On top of that, he’d had band practice with Los Rumberos every day to prepare for their set at the upcoming Puerto Rican festival. However, it felt like every time she turned around, there he was. And he was incapable of wearing a shirt. She knew the apartment didn’t have central air-conditioning, but he didn’t have to walk around half-naked all the damn time. She’d almost taken to hiding in her room, but fuck that. She wasn’t a kid in a time-out, she was a grown-ass woman who was completely capable of keeping her eyes, hands, and other body parts to herself. If only he’d stop with the guitar playing.

She could hear him strumming in his room from her current spot at the dining room table, or as Kamilah had taken to calling itWedding Central. She had her laptop, a notebook, and tons of wedding magazines in front of her. The first thing she’d learned upon getting in touch with the planner at the old reception hall was that Kamilah had been taken advantage of. The venue had added their own fees on top of those charged by the vendors they partnered with, and the quality was trash. After negotiating a full refund plus a little something extra for the last-minute inconvenience, Sofi had ditched all of their old vendors for her own. Now she felt like, at the very least, she’d gotten her friend a better deal than she’d had before. It was enough to get rid of a tiny bit of her nerves. Sure she was still having anxiety-influenced nightmares about everything going wrong, but that was a personal problem.

She heard the door to Leo’s room open and a few seconds later he stepped out of the hallway, sans shirt and guitar in hand. “Oh hey,” he said upon seeing her at the table. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yeah, I’m just trying to get some planning done.”

“Do you mind if I sit out here and practice for a bit? My amp and mic are out here.”

“Sure,” Sofi said even though the last thing she needed was to be serenaded by Leo whether he knew he was doing it or not.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Because you sound irritated.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Uh-oh. Every man in the world knows thatfinemeans not fine.”

“Leo, just sing your songs,” she told him.

He smiled. “As you wish.”

Oh hell no. Now he was usingThe Princess Brideon her? He was conniving.

Things only got worse when he began to play the guitar and she immediately recognized the song he was about to sing.Oh, that underhanded motherfucker.

He knew how much she loved DLG. In their on-again phases, she was constantly telling him that he had a soulful voice like Huey Dunbar’s. This specific song had him singing to her about a man who still wants a woman despite her saying that she doesn’t want him.

As soon as he began singing the chorus Sofi had to squeeze her thighs together.

“‘Mas yo si me enamoré. Por eso no te olvide...’”he crooned, his voice drenched in warmth, sweetness, and passion, all while maintaining eye contact with her.

Evil. Evil. Diabolical man.

He had no right to sing like that. Sofi soon fell into what basically amounted to a horny trance, as was usual whenever she listened to Leo sing. She felt hot and tingly in all of the naughty spots and couldn’t focus on anything but how good listening to him made her feel. So good that it took her a long while to realize that his guitar playing was off. It was still really good by anyone’s standards, but his normal smooth and embellished style was currently a bit jerky and stilted. She wasn’t a musician at all, but she could tell that he was slightly off tempo and missing notes. She looked at his long fingers which usually played along the strings like a graceful kid jumping from stone to stone across a creek. Now they moved more like a toddler wearing their parent’s shoes.

She looked at his face and noticed his skin was pale and covered in a thin layer of sweat. His brow was furrowed and there were lines of tension around his eyes. Usually, he looked lost in the music as if he were channeling it from some other dimension. Right now, he looked like he was fighting with it, dragging it through kicking and screaming instead of simply letting it flow.

The song ended and Leo lowered his head. He was flexing his fingers and breathing in and out a bit too quickly.

He’s in pain, Sofi thought. She hated seeing him like that. “Leo,” she murmured.

He shot out of his seat, practically tossing his precious guitar onto the couch next to him. “I have to use the restroom,” he said and stalked down the hall.

Sofi stood and followed. “Leo,” she said again, but he didn’t stop. “Corazón.”

At the sound of her nickname for him, he spun on his heel. “Don’t.” He pointed a finger at her. “Don’t you dare pity me,” he barked.

“I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Are you serious right now? I was shot. I almost died. I lost my dream job. I spent the last year putzing around doing a bunch of bullshit. Meanwhile, my dominant arm won’t do what I want it to do when I want it to. I can’t even assure my only sister that I’ll be able to sing and play for her first dance like I promised her I would when we were kids.” He shook his head. “My body was the only part of myself that I could count on and now I don’t even have that, so no, Sofi. I’m not fucking okay.” His chest rose and fell with each huffing breath. His fists were clenched at his sides as if he were preparing for a fight.

Sofi knew that he wasn’t mad at her. He was mad at the situation and at himself for being upset. Since she’d first met Leo, it had been clear to her that the surplus of ideas and imagination Kamilah possessed, he contained equally in the form of positivity and humor. Leo didn’t do deep thinking or philosophical conversations. He was witty, irreverent, and more than a bit impulsive. He just wanted everyone to enjoy life to the fullest and was prepared to act a clown to help them along. He was the perpetual good-time guy and a performer down to his marrow. Leo didn’t struggle with existential crises, he just kept letting the good times roll. It was what caused Sofi to call him an immature man-child many times throughout the years.

To see him like this now, struggling with his place in his own life, caused her pain almost as sharp as what he had to be feeling. She didn’t like seeing Leo doubting himself or his capabilities. It pained her to know that he felt like he couldn’t trust himself. Sure, he was a bit forgetful about certain things. Sure, he tended to focus on the wrong things at the wrong time and had issues with impulse control. But Leo was far from untrustworthy. Leo was very loyal and honest. He didn’t have the ability or patience to pretend to be anyone other than himself. It was one of the things she liked most about him even when he pissed her off. Leo was Leo in any situation and the Leo she knew was more than trustworthy.

She decided to honor his honesty with some of her own. “I’m terrified of public speaking.”

“What?”

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