Leo leaned closer to his abuelo.
Knowing that Leo was about to spill the tea, Abuelo’s eyes gleamed as he leaned toward him. “Dime,” he commanded in a whisper.
“You and Doña Fina don’t have to scheme anymore,” Leo whispered.
Abuelo’s mouth stretched into a grin. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
Leo nodded. “Sofi and I are together. Like, for real together.”
“Wepa!” Abuelo hollered, throwing his hands up and giving a salsero spin.
“Shh,” Leo whisper-shouted, but it was too late. Everything around them was quiet. He looked and found everyone looking at him and Abuelo in confusion and interest. Leo cleared his throat. “I just told him that if he manages to beat me tonight, I’ll give him a solo at the reception.”
It was obviously a lie but leave it to his grandpa to take advantage. “You said two solos and a duet.” He shook his finger at Leo as if to say,Ah, ah, ah.
Leo narrowed his eyes. “I don’t remember that.”
Abuelo shrugged. “Maybe you need to slow down on the beer. It won’t be any fun kicking your butt if you’re too drunk to play well.”
The rest of the guys laughed and let out a chorus of “ooh” and “aw snap.”
“Oh, it’s on now, Abuelo,” he warned. “Be prepared to feel my wrath.”
Abuelo snorted. “Bring it on.”
By the time they’d finished their bickering, the guys had lost interest and gone back to setting everything up. Leo lowered his voice again. “We’re still keeping it quiet, so chill out and please, for the love of God, don’t say anything.”
Abuelo was affronted. “How dare you? I’m great at keeping secrets. You’re the one who just blurts out whatever pops into your head.”
Leo had nothing to say to that because it was true. Maybe he did need to slow down with the beer. The last thing he needed was to drunkenly spill the beans. Sofi would be pissed and that was the last thing he wanted. It was one thing to get her worked up on purpose. It was another to make her truly angry.
Abuelo poked him in the chest. “Hey, let me ask you something.”
“What?”
“Why are you still letting her hide you? I thought you said that you were done with that.”
“It’s not for long.” Leo took a drink from his beer before putting it on the counter next to him. “Sofi is worried about how Kamilah will react to finding everything out and neither one of us wants to jeopardize the wedding, so we agreed to wait until that’s done.”
Abuelo nodded. “That’s a good idea. Ojitos de Oro will probably have a fit.”
Leo almost rolled his eyes. Here Abuelo called Kamilah Little Golden Eyes while Leo was called devil child. So rude. “I don’t know,” Leo said. “I don’t think she’ll be that upset about it. Maybe if we were teenagers who fought constantly still, but we get along pretty well now.”
“Sí, but after how much of a big deal Sofi made out of her lie, Kamilah has every right to be mad about this lie.”
Leo was no longer sure that he agreed with that, but he wasn’t going to discuss it with his grandpa. “Look, the point is that we’re already together, so there is no reason for you and Doña Fina to keep scheming. We’re good. Really good.”
Abuelo let out a hum of thought. “I’ll believe that when I see you two out in the open together,” he said, finally. “As of right now, you basically just made it back to square one. Together in secret.” With that he took Leo’s beer and wandered back into the dining room where the rest of the guys were.
Leo was about to follow him when the clack of heels on the floor brought his attention to the stairs where the ladies were coming down. Kamilah was wearing a sparkly dress that wasn’t exactly white, but wasn’t gold either. The rest of them were wearing some version of black leather and gold accessories. Sofi had on a black lacy bodysuit that showed a lot of skin with a leather mini skirt and the highest of heels. Her straightened hair was slicked back into a tight, high ponytail. Her eyes were smoky and her lips a deep red. She looked like a dominatrix. Leo was ready to drop to his knees and follow her around like Tostón while worshipping at her feet. God, she was sexy.
“Wow, mirá qué bellas son,” Abuelo Papo said as the group reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Aww, thank you, Abuelo,” Kamilah said, striding forward and placing a kiss on his cheek before using her thumb to wipe her lipstick off of it.
“So where are you going again?” Saint asked, he looked ready to tell them all to go back upstairs and put on more clothes.
“That Cuban place with live bands that is super popular,” Sofi said. “Plus, there’s a salsa conference in town, so you know there’re going to be hella professional dancers there tonight.”