Page 6 of Sleeping with the Frenemy
“Did you?”
Not really. She’d figured out that she didn’t want to continue on the path she was on and had a very vague idea about what she might want going forward. But it was all still very nebulous. “I’m still working on that.”
“And how do you feel about me now?”
“Honestly? I think a part of me is still raw, but I mostly just miss my friend.”
Kamilah’s eyes went bright and wet. “I miss my friend too. Every single day there is something I want to tell you because I know that only you would get it. Then I remember that I can’t and it hurts. It hurts like when I remember that I can’t just stop upstairs and talk to my abuela or step into the distillery and bicker with Killian.”
Sofi understood how losing Liam’s grandfather would hurt Kamilah. Not a day went by that she didn’t wish she could talk to her tío Manny or her abuelo Juan. There had already been more people-sized holes in her heart than any one person needed to have, adding a Kamilah-sized one had almost taken her out. “I’m sorry for your loss. I know how much you loved Killian.”
“Thank you.” Kamilah gave her a sad smile. “We’re still getting used to it. Some days are better than others.”
“I know. I get it.” Sofi, her mom, and Abuela Fina still had bad days in regards to Tío Manny and Abuelo Juan and it had been over a decade since their fatal car crash.
“I want to be friends again,” Sofi said. “I don’t think it will ever be the same, but I hope it can be better even if it’s different.”
“I want that too,” Kamilah said. She reached out a hand like she was going to grab Sofi’s but she stopped. It was clear that she was unsure of whether or not they were back at the physical affection stage. Kamilah thrived on physical affection. She was always hugging, kissing, and caressing her loved ones. It hurt to see her unsure of her welcome.
Sofi reached over and pulled Kamilah into a hug.
Kamilah wrapped her arms around Sofi and squeezed with all of her might. “It’s already different because now we both know the truth. There are no more secrets.”
Right.
Except there was one. One big secret Sofi knew she had to tell Kamilah, especially now. It was the perfect moment, but she didn’t know how. Did she just open her mouth and say,Oh, and since we’re being honest I should probably tell you that I pretty much dated your brother on and off since I was fifteen.That would go over like gangbusters.
No. Things were still too tentative between them. She needed to understand this new Kamilah better. Then she’d know how to break the news in a way that didn’t completely obliterate any chance they had to rebuild their friendship.
“I just want you to know that I value this friendship,” Sofi told her. “I want to fix it.”
“Sofi, we don’t have a friendship. You’ve been family since the day we met. Nothing changed on that front. I’m just working on being better at recognizing and vocalizing my needs and intentions and accepting that when I fail it’s not the end of the world. It’s helping me be a more honest and straightforward communicator, which I know is a trait you really value.”
Oh God. Please stop, Sofi thought desperately. She was making everything better and worse at the same time. She was saying everything that Sofi needed to hear to know that she’d made the right choice in coming, but she was making Sofi feel guilty as shit too.I’ll tell her soon, she promised herself.Besides, it’s not like there is anything between me and Leo now, so it can wait a little bit.That thought helped slow the steeping of guilt a little bit.
Kamilah wiped at her wet eyes. “Okay, no more sad stuff. Today is a happy day. I have my best friend back and she has tons of amazing stories about herEmily in Parisyear abroad.”
Sofi snorted. “Please. When I wasn’t working, I mostly just ate, explored, and shopped.”
“Did you buy that outfit overseas, because that is cute as hell.” Kamilah took in Sofi’s bright yellow matching skort and crop top set with a tropical plant print including pink birds of paradise flowers and deep green leaves.
“I did.” Sofi spun so that Kamilah could see it in all its glory. “It gives me ’90s vibes and I love it.”
Kamilah made a chef’s kiss gesture. “And we all know that yellow was created for brown skin.”
“Yes, hunnie.”
They both smiled at each other.
On the desk her Apple desktop started to ring loudly. Kamilah pulled her vibrating iPhone out of her pocket. She looked down, read the screen, and hit the accept button quickly. “This is the reception venue. I gotta take this. Don’t go anywhere.” She stood and faced the wall as she answered. She listened to whoever was on the other line and then suddenly gasped and collapsed.
2
It was the one-year anniversary of the day Leo died. Okay, technically his heart had only stopped for a minute or so, but he considered it dying even if the doctors didn’t. It had been a long road to what they called recovery, but Leo didn’t consider himself recovered. There were still too many things he struggled to do because of the nerve damage he’d sustained after being shot while saving his family from neighborhood thugs. For example, he couldn’t lift anything over a hundred and ten pounds now without pain or tingling when he used to lift triple that. Still, Leo wasn’t going to stop until he felt like himself again.
A hand tapped his leg, bringing his focus back to the present and making him realize that his leg had been bouncing. Leo forced his leg to still and gave his attention to the woman in front of him, Amanda McGuire—or Mandy, as she demanded they call her—Liam’s business mentor and partner.
Liam and Mandy had met when Kane Distillery had been a contestant in a national craft distillery contest and she’d been so impressed that she’d offered to guide Liam as he expanded the business into something that would grow beyond Division Street. It had taken Killian, Liam’s late grandfather, a bit to come around to the idea of having anyone else involved in the family business, but he’d eventually given his blessing before he passed. Since then Mandy had stepped fully into the role of mentor, helping Liam see beyond the day-to-day aspects of whiskey distilling. She got him to realize that if he diversified his business a bit, he’d eventually have more profit to put into expanding. All of which had led to the moment they were at now, on the cusp of opening a new part of the business.
