Page 84 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

He’d better get used to it now, because his family was about to tear him a new one anyway.

They pulled up to the alley of El Coquí and Leo was not at all surprised to see his parents and older brothers standing by the door. He looked at Obi. “You’re really going to leave me to face them alone right now?”

Obi nodded. “Yep.”

“That’s not cool.”

Before Obi could say anything, Leo’s door was being yanked open and his mom was dipping in. “Ay, mi niño bello!” She grabbed his face in her hands. “Let me look at you. I need to see that you are okay,” she wailed in Spanish.

Leo winced at the volume. “I’m okay, Mami.” It was a complete lie, but he needed her to calm down.

He felt his seat belt loosen and shot a look at Obi.

Obi jerked his chin in the direction of the open door. He wanted them out. Now.

The unfeeling asshole.

Leo turned to get out and his mom backed up to give him space.

“Ven, Saint,” she called over her shoulder. “Help him out.”

Saint appeared before Leo could tell them that he didn’t need it. He put his hand under Leo’s good elbow and helped guide him out. Saint held him while they took a few steps toward the doors, but his father’s voice stopped them both.

“The rest of you don’t have to stay now that we know he’s safe.”

Oh shit. If he was trying to get Leo alone, then he was in real trouble. He stared at his boots. Behind him, he could hear Eddie thanking Obi for bringing Leo home and keeping them updated. Once Obi pulled off they all stood there. Leo was waiting for his brothers to bail like they did whenever one of the other siblings was in deep shit, but they didn’t.

Suddenly the back door opened and Abuelo Papo stood there. “What are you all doing just standing here? Ven, metense.” He stepped aside while holding the door so they could pass.

Leo took the opportunity to escape and darted up the stairs as fast as he could, which wasn’t very quickly given the pain meds. The second he stepped through the apartment door, his eyes went directly to Sofi.

She was sitting on the couch between Kamilah and Doña Fina while Liam was on the recliner with a sleeping Tostón in his lap. In front of them on the coffee table sat two empty bottles of cheap girlie sweet wine and a scattering of glasses. Oh man, Sofi only drank that kind of wine when she was upset. She looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and an expression of concern on her face. She stood and quickly rushed over to him. She looked ready to wrap him in a hug, but she stopped short when her eyes locked on his immobilizing sling. “Are you okay?”

Leo lied again. “I’m fine.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Do they put that contraption on everyone who’s fine?”

“Only the special ones like me,” he replied, trying for lighthearted.

“Now’s not the time for jokes,” his father barked. “Sit down.”

Leo plopped onto the couch, sucking in a pained breath when it jerked his shoulder. But when his dad used that tone, there was no arguing to be done. There was only apologizing. “Look, I’m sorry I forgot my phone and you guys were worried,” he began, but Papi cut him off.

“You think that’s what we’re upset about?” he asked incredulously as the rest of the family filed in behind him. “What were you thinking, Leo?” his dad said—a familiar refrain. Unsurprisingly he answered his question himself with another familiar quote. “Bueno, obviously you weren’t or you wouldn’t have kept it a secret this whole time.”

“I knew you’d tell me not to try,” Leo said. “You’d be worried about me.”

“Of course we would be worried,” Mami said. “The doctors told us that you couldn’t go back. You’d put yourself in danger.”

“I always put myself in danger, Mami. That’s the job!”

“The job is about trying to be smart and keep yourself out of danger,” Eddie said. “Being on duty when your body is compromised puts you, your fellow firefighters, and the people you serve in more danger.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Leo grit out. “I would never do that, which is why I trained so hard to pass the PAT, to have solid proof that I was ready for duty.”

“Look,” Cristian said. “I get how hard it is to let the job go. There are days I second-guess my decision to leave the police force, but I wasn’t fit for duty anymore. For you it’s physical, for me it was mental. I woke up to the harsh realities I’d been ignoring and it affected my ability to do my job. Do I still believe in justice? Yes, but I couldn’t be a part of that system anymore.” He dragged his hands through his hair, obviously not comfortable talking about it. “I know you want to be out there serving the community and saving lives, but, Leo, you can’t.”

Leo had known this was what they were going to say and he’d had enough. “I’m so sick of this!” he yelled. “I’m sick of you all sitting here and explaining everything to me like I’m too dumb to have thought about this on my own. I know I’m the stupid kid, but I do think about things before I do them.”

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