Page 48 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

“You’re family too. You’ve always been invited.” Both Kamilah’s smile and eyes were bright.

It wasn’t until that second that Sofi thought about how much her distance from the Vega family had affected her mother too. Her mom had also been adopted by the family, becoming friends with Valeria and Santos, along with Rico and his wife, and a few of Santos’s sisters. She worked with Santos and Rico’s brother-in-law, Dr. David Hart, at the hospital as well as Kamilah’s cousin Mia. It had to have been difficult for her mom to be in the middle. She owed her mom an apology and a thank-you.

She turned and found Abuela Fina flirting outrageously with Liam, who was doing his best to be polite but also not engage fully by bending low to pet Tostón sitting at Abuela’s feet.

“I thought you were allergic,” Sofi said to him.

He looked up. His brow was furrowed. “What?”

“When we found Tostón, I suggested taking him to your place, but Leo told me that you’re allergic to animals.”

Liam didn’t even get a chance to respond before it clicked. “He lied, didn’t he?” Sofi asked although she knew the answer already.

“I’m not allergic to anything,” Liam confirmed.

That sneaky son of a—Sofi cut herself off. “I’m going to kill him.”

“To be fair, I still would’ve said no.” Liam let Tostón put his paws on his thighs and sniff his face. “It’s not sanitary to have animals in the distillery, which is why I never had any pets.”

“Plus, we both work such long hours we don’t have time for pets,” Kamilah added. “It wouldn’t be fair to them.” Then she smirked, looking just like her troublemaking brother. “Besides, from what Leo said the dog chose you, not the other way around, and it’s clear you already love him.”

Sofi grumbled about Leo being an annoying know-it-all, but it was true. Sofi had already been second-guessing herself when they pulled into the parking lot of the animal control offices. When she’d seen him shaking in fear on the counter she’d been ready to snatch him up and run out. It was safe to say that there had been a three to five percent chance that she would’ve actually left him there after finding out he didn’t have a microchip.

“Los Rumberos, my abuelo’s old band, are playing soon,” Kamilah was telling Abuela Fina. “Now it’s all the original crews’ kids or grandkids, but they still play every year.”

“And your brother is in the band?”

Kamilah nodded. “Wait until you see him perform. Don’t tell him I said this, but he’s a born star. I never remember a time he wasn’t wandering around singing at the top of his lungs and hitting all the notes perfectly. It used to make me so mad because when I tried I sounded like a squawking parrot.”

“She has the volume, but not the skill,” Liam said, earning an elbow to the stomach from Kamilah.

Sofi, Mami, and Abuela Fina laughed.

“Anyway,” Kamilah said with a hard look at Liam who just grinned. “The family has a spot by the stage. Come join us.”

Sofi grabbed Tostón’s leash from Abuela and they all followed Liam, who used his big body to clear a path.

Once they reached the side of the stage where a large portion of the Vega family was set up with coolers and lawn chairs, Sofi and Mami greeted everyone while also introducing Abuela Fina around. Omar, Kamilah’s oldest nephew—who Sofi couldn’t believe was now seventeen—and his buddies volunteered to hold on to Tostón and walk him around so that Sofi could enjoy the show. It probably helped that a group of cute girls from their high school immediately descended on them to coo and pet the dog. Sofi shook her head.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got my eye on them,” Yasmeen, Cristian’s wife and high school sweetheart, said to Sofi. She did not look happy about the attention her son was getting.

“Oh I do too,” Valeria added. “That girl in the tube top looks like she’s in college.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Yasmeen agreed. “She’s got but one more time to put her fast little hands on my baby’s bicep before I catch myself a case.”

“You two are a mess,” Cristian said. “It’s not like he can do anything with his little brothers hanging around. Leave him be.”

“And yet, whenever I brought a boyfriend around you threatened to break his arm if he so much as held my hand,” Kamilah said.

“Who cares?” Cristian took a swig from his bottle. “I also punched one of your boyfriends in the face.”

“What?” Kamilah screeched.

“Hey.” Cristian pointed to his side where Saint sat with a napping Rosie in his lap. “Saint was the one who scared him so bad he pissed his pants.”

Everyone looked at Saint, who was suddenly very interested in the stagehands doing a mic check.

“What did you do?” Kamilah demanded.

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