Page 65 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

“Stop being such a worrier and come on.” He led the way and Sofi followed.

She trailed Leo to The Bean, where he walked underneath the tall arch and sat right in the middle. Sofi plopped down next to him. “Now what?” she asked.

Leo rummaged around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box. “Here,” he said, shoving it at her.

“What’s this?”

“Open it,” he commanded while he opened his guitar case.

Sofi lifted the lid and stared at what was inside. “Chocolates?” She knew her tone was one of confusion. Leo Vega didn’t give her chocolates. He also didn’t show up at her apartment in the middle of the night and whisk her away to Downtown Chicago.

“Yeah. They have caramel inside. Eat one.” He grabbed one and popped the whole thing in his mouth.

“Okay...” Sofi lifted a chocolate and took a bite. It was delicious. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate. She ate the rest of that chocolate and then two more.

When she finished her last chocolate, Leo positioned the guitar on his lap. “Are you ready?” he asked.

She had no idea, but she nodded anyway.

Leo started playing a familiar song on the guitar, but it didn’t click completely until he started singing. “En mi Viejo San Juan.”

Oh God. She was not prepared to hear her abuelo’s favorite song. It was a song about someone who left their home in San Juan for a new future. They’d always planned to go back to the place they loved, but never made it home.

As Sofi listened to Leo singing goodbyes to Puerto Rico, she couldn’t help but think about how both Abuelo Juan and Tío Manny were exactly like the writer of the song. They’d always talked about going home after Tío was done playing baseball and now they’d never see their beloved Puerto Rico again. Suddenly, everything they’d done as a memorial didn’t seem like enough. They needed to take them home to San Juan.

Sofi didn’t even realize she was crying until Leo wrapped her in his arms and pulled her into his lap. She didn’t even stop to think. She just buried her face in his neck and let it all go. She didn’t know how long she sat there slobbering, blubbering, wailing, and snotting all over Leo, but eventually her sobs calmed to hiccups. She could finally hear what Leo had been murmuring in her hair the whole time.

“It’s okay, Sofi. Let it out. I’m here. I’ve got you,” he said over and over.

Sofi used her hoodie to wipe her face. Once she was reasonably sure that her face wasn’t covered in snot and tears she looked up at him. “Why?” she rasped out through her sore throat.

Leo shrugged. “I knew you needed it.”

Sofi’s brow furrowed.

“At the service I could tell that you weren’t letting yourself cry. You were trying to be strong for your mom and abuela. I get that, but you don’t have to be strong now. I’m here and I’ll do it for you.”

“But why?” She didn’t get it. Leo always treated her like he was annoyed by her presence.

“Because I know that if I didn’t do this for you, no one would. They’d let you continue to push it all down and that’s not fair to you. You should be able to feel whatever you want without having to worry about what other people think. Since you don’t care about what I think, I was the perfect person to do it.”

Unable to process everything he’d said or how she felt about it, Sofi did the only thing she could think of. She lifted her lips to his and kissed him. She expected him to pull away or something, but he didn’t. He kissed her back. They stayed there for hours kissing and eating chocolates, and she listened to him sing “En mi Viejo San Juan” over and over again until she had no more tears to cry.

Back in the present Sofi took a deep breath and wiped at her wet eyes. That was the Leo she liked the best. The sweet, considerate one who saw her for who she was and wanted her anyway. It was Sofi’s turn to do the same for him. She told herself to just do it. Leap off that cliff and swan dive into the water below.

16

Leo’s stomach was doing somersaults in his torso. He was nervous, but he was also excited. A few hours ago he’d made it through the entire practice physical exam. And the best part was that his arm wasn’t useless because of it. He honestly wasn’t sure when things had changed, because he felt like his training kicked his ass more often than not, but at some point in the last few weeks he’d crested the hill. He now had proof that he could and would pass the physical exam and once again be considered an active firefighter.

When he’d made it through and realized what it meant, the first person he’d wanted to tell was Sofi. But there were some other things he needed to tell her first. So here he was standing in front of the iconicCloud Gatestatue, more commonly known as The Bean, holding a picnic basket in one hand and his guitar case in the other. He didn’t worry that she wouldn’t know where to go. This was their spot. Since the night they’d shared their first kiss, they’d met up here plenty of times. They knew that it would be highly unlikely for them to be seen by anyone they knew since natives tended to give any touristy spots a wide berth.

Sofi walked up to him in a bright green dress with white polka dots. Her skin was shimmery and her hair down and wild, how he liked it. “What are you up to?” she asked him.

“Where’s Tostón?” he asked at the same time.

They both paused and looked at each other patiently.

“Ladies first,” he said.

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