Page 50 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

The band and the crowd chuckled.

“I don’t know why, but I really felt the need to sing it tonight. Maybe because there are so many beautiful women in the crowd tonight.”

Sofi froze when he looked right at her. It was a brief look, but still. She had no idea how he’d even known she was there. She looked around quickly, but Kamilah hadn’t seemed to notice. She was just looking at her brother with pride. Lucy and Liza were staring at each other, ignoring the rest of the world.

The horns began playing a familiar intro and Sofi gasped.

He was about to sing “Comerte a Besos,” a song literally about devouring someone with kisses.

He was reminding her of what he’d done to her last night. How he’d eaten her to ecstasy, and she’d loved every single second of it. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, she hardly needed a reminder less than a day later. She remembered every second all too clearly. The problem was that she had told herself hundreds of times that she wasn’t going to do this with Leo anymore. Sofi firmly controlled every other aspect of her life from her looks to her food and schedule. It was what she needed to feel confident and capable. However, she’d never once been able to control her feelings for Leo. At first it had been exciting and a bit freeing, but now it was just scary and toxic. They simply weren’t good for each other, no matter how physically compatible they were.

The song began with him singing that he’d had to wait so long for her that he’d lost all sense of time, but he was determined to win her. It was inevitable that they’d get together because she was already giving in and he wanted more.

That motherfucker.

During every previous song, Leo had been dancing around with the band and moving back and forth across the stage, but this time he stood right there in the middle, in front of her. He kept the microphone in the stand and held it with one hand while he ran the other hand down his chest to the front of his hip.

Women in the crowd screamed, but Sofi just stood there staring at his package like an idiot. Thinking about what it looked like, tasted like, felt like. She broke out in goose bumps even though the body heat surrounding her had them all sweating.

He moved his feet in a salsa step swinging his hips in sync and Sofi stared at this thighs. He had no right to look like that and sing like that too. It was unfair and unnatural.

The band broke it down and Leo did one of those turns à la Ricky Martin/Marc Anthony/Elvis Crespo pivoting on one foot while rolling his hips. He sang about convincing her to love him little by little, kiss by kiss. Then he had the audacity to look right at her, wink, and laugh before turning his attention to the crowd. It was a clear message to her that even though he wasn’t looking at her, he was singing to her. He wanted her to know that he was coming for her heart and he’d use the rest of her body to get to it if he had to.

12

Leo opened the car door for Tostón and clipped his leash onto his harness before allowing him to jump down. “You’re doing well, son,” he told the dog. “No one would know that just last week you were living in the alley and eating trash to survive.”

Of course, the dog didn’t respond except to immediately sniff the grass, but it was still true. In the last week, Tostón had flourished from scared and shy to happy and sweet. He was still the chillest puppy Leo had ever seen, content to just hang out on the couch and frequently napping most of the day away, but he was also down for long walks and some playful wrestling with his new dad.

Leo and Tostón walked a short distance to the dog park which was really just a fenced-in concrete slab, but at least they had some kiddie pools full of water to help the dogs cool down on the hot summer day. Even better, there were only a handful of other dogs in the big dog area.

Leo walked Tostón into the space and took off his leash, but he didn’t go anywhere. Tostón stayed right at his side, practically causing Leo to trip as he made his way to a short wall to sit. Leo wasn’t surprised. Tostón was shy and he definitely liked people more than other dogs. The last time Leo had brought him, it took Tostón a bit to warm up but then he’d played and enjoyed himself.

Leo sat and waited for Tostón to get comfortable while also waiting for his friend to arrive. He took out his phone and texted Sofi some pictures of Tostón lying on the concrete watching the other dogs play.

Your son is as anti-social as you are.

Less than a minute later he got a response.

We aren’t anti-social. We just don’t waste our energy on the unworthy.

Otherwise known as being stuck-up.

It’s called reclaiming your time.

Well, he’s sitting here lonely, so I don’t think it’s the best path to take.

Es mejor estar solo que mal acompañado.

You sound like my grandma.

Good. She was a smart woman.

You got me there.

Leo, when are you going to learn that I will always “get” you?

Sofi, when are you going to learn that I want to be “had” by you?

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