Page 69 of Sleeping with the Frenemy
“I want to be with you, Sofi! What else do I have to do to make it clear?”
“I don’t know, maybe actually say it.” She tossed back her head. “I’ve never heard you say it until right now, so forgive me for not reading your mind.”
Leo paused. That couldn’t be true, could it? It seemed to him like he was saying it constantly, but now that he really thought about it, he was pretty sure he hadn’t. His grandmother had always told him that actions speak louder than words, but apparently not. Apparently, you needed both. “You’re right,” he told Sofi. “So let me say it clearly. I want to be with you. For real. No hiding. I want to call you my girlfriend and for you to call me your boyfriend. I want everyone to know that you are mine and I am yours.”
“I want that too,” Sofi said, the anger fading from her eyes. “That’s what I came to tell you tonight.”
Leo was overjoyed. He reached for Sofi, but she held up a hand.
“I need time to tell Kamilah, okay? Things are still so fragile between us and I don’t want to ruin things—not when I’m in the middle of planning her wedding reception. But I will tell her. I promise I will and after that, I don’t care who knows.”
Leo believed her. Sofi didn’t make promises she had no intention of keeping. “Okay. I’ll give you time, but not too much. Deal?” He held up a pinky.
She wrapped her pinky around his. “Deal.” She looked around. “Can we leave to go have sex now?”
“Hell yeah.” They cleaned up in the blink of an eye and rushed back to the apartment.
17
“I really wish I’d thought about how finishing off a bottle of wine at the park would interfere with my plans to get you home quickly,” Leo grumbled in her ear.
Yeah. That was a bad move on both of their parts. Now their tipsy asses were stuck in the back seat of an Uber with a driver who was obviously not a native on account of his ignoring their suggestions and taking the most traffic heavy-way back to the apartment. “We’re almost home,” she whispered back.
“Thank God,” Leo whispered.
Sofi wanted to agree, but the fact was that she was nervous. She’d basically just agreed to be in a relationship for the first time in years. Actually more like the first time in her adult life, because even her only serious relationship in college had been her trying to move on after breaking up with Leo. Brandon had been a great boyfriend, but he’d obviously been feeling their relationship more than her. Hence her breaking it off when she stumbled across an open tab on his browser featuring engagement rings. The truth was that she’d frequently criticized Leo’s inability to maintain a relationship, but she was worse than he was. Leo at least tried over the years to have normal relationships with people. Sofi simply kept things light and fun. No commitments. No drama. Good vibes only. When things went beyond that, she would dip. She was ashamed to say that she’d ghosted multiple men throughout her life.
When they reached the apartment, Leo silently followed her up the stairs. Neither one of them spoke until they were fully inside with the door locked. “I have to go to the bathroom,” Sofi said before rushing to the space and locking the door behind her. She sat on the edge of the tub and stared at the tiled floor. What was wrong with her? She’d had sex with Leo so many times that she’d lost count. Sex between them was never a problem. So why was she freaking out about it now? Was she really so much of a commitment-phobe that simply agreeing to give this relationship a try was going to ruin something good? No. No way. She wouldn’t let it.
Sofi stood and looked herself in the mirror. “Get your shit together,” she told her reflection firmly. “You want this.” Then she turned and unlocked the door. She stepped out into the living room and followed the sound of music to the kitchen where Leo was finishing putting away their picnic leftovers. There were two new glasses of wine sitting on the island.
He turned and saw her standing there. He held out a hand. “Ven, bombón. Dance with me.”
Sofi let out a breath. That she could do. She stepped forward and grabbed his hand. He used his grip to tug her around the island and into his arms. The bachata remake of a Drake and Bad Bunny superhit was about halfway through, but it didn’t matter to her. She loved dancing bachata. It was quite possibly the most Dominican thing about her outside of her love for the threeMs—mangú, mamajuana, and merengue. She especially loved dancing with Leo, because they were both extra AF about it. It was only seconds before Leo was spinning her as they improvised some quick footwork. The next song was a slow bachata by Leslie Grace about dancing with a lover. Sofi and Leo danced like they were two sensual bachata teachers at one of those conferences she saw all over social media—extra close, extra hips, and extra arms and footwork. They stared at one another, their foreheads touching, as their bodies rubbed and rolled against each other.
Leo spun her before pulling her close, her back to his front. Together they moved in the familiar side-to-side steps. He placed a kiss at the juncture of her shoulder and neck. She dropped her head onto his opposite shoulder to give him more room, which he took advantage of. Suddenly he spun her again and did his own rotation around her before bringing them back together face-to-face. As the song wound down he dipped her back. She hung there like a rag doll while he trailed kisses from under her chin to her chest. “You need to stop thinking so much,” he told her.
“Make me stop,” she practically begged him.
He lifted his head. “That’s what you want? You want me to take control?”
She nodded eagerly. She loved it when he took control. It allowed her to let go completely.
His eyes sparked with pure devious desire and his lips furled into the kind of grin that made her toes curl. “Oh, bombón. You’re in for it now.”
Sofi shivered at the promise in his words.
He straightened with her in his arms. “Turn around and put your hands on the counter.”
Sofi spun so fast she almost tipped over. Her hands slammed down onto the cool porcelain of the island and she widened her stance to brace herself.
“Ass out, Sofi. You know better.” His voice was just the right amount of firm.
She slipped her hands farther along the island as she bent forward and arched her back. She gave her hips a little wiggle. She knew he liked the view, but really it was because she was so excited she couldn’t help herself.
“Look at you pretending to be a good girl, but you’re not a good girl are you, bombón?” he murmured. “You’re a naughty girl who disappears for a year and leaves me with nothing but memories and a weak hand.”
Sofi stayed quiet.
