Page 19 of Fracture

Levi laughs out loud, his eyes glinting as he sizes me up. “Yeah, good for her. And him.”

Mario picks that moment to come out, his hands lifted in greeting and a brilliant smile on his weathered face. “My boys! Come on in!”

I push all my negative thoughts and feelings to the back of my mind, and try to focus on the here and now. Mario takes us on a tour of the shop, which is completely unnecessary. We cut our teeth on bikes in this place. We learned everything we know from him. But Mario’s proud of the shop his father opened all the way back in 1946, so we humor him and follow him, promising to keep everything just as it is.

“So, my boys,” he says it again with paternal pride as he pours us both a honey-coloured liquor from a fancy gold-toppedbottle. “Metaxa, from my home, and only for special occasions. And today is a very special occasion.”

“Sure is.” Levi agrees, taking one of the glasses and raising it in Mario’s direction. “Cheers.”

“Stin iyia mas!”Cheers.Mario smiles at us both, and takes a sip of the liquid.

When I raise it to my lips, it smells strong of berries, and the taste is sweet and cloying on my tongue. My eyes wander up to the clock on the wall, ticking away loudly, and I see it’s just after 3pm. The image of Stella in her tiny bikini pops up in my head and, I wonder if she’s already on her date with Jared fucking Marshall.

“So, we hand all the papers to the lawyers, and then the place is yours.” Mario’s joy-filled voice brings me back into the office and away from the lake where Stella is probably frolicking with one of the assholes who called mehomoall the way back in high school. “I have to say, I couldn’t be happier to see it go to you.”

“We’re more than happy to take it over and see you retire well, Mario.” Levi places his glass on the table and leans back in the creaky leather office chair, his legs sprawled out in front of him. “It’s the start we both need.”

“And you’ll keep all the men on?” Mario asks, his eyebrows raised. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but these guys, they’re all good men. They have families, kids, you know? Some of them are still so young, and I took a chance on them.”

“No one is losing their job on our watch,” I assure him. “I mean come on, fresh outta prison, we’re not exactly in a position to judge.”

Mario’s expression becomes earnest, his fingers steepled over his soft belly. “I want you both to know, I always supported what you did. Harold Langford, he was no good. A bad man. If he’d attacked my best friend, I would have done the same.”

Levi and I both dip our heads at the same time, and Levi gives me that side glance full of knowing. The silent agreement that’s existed between us all these years, the one we signed our names to.This is the story we tell. This is what the public knows. This is how we protect Stella.

Levi quickly perks up. “Hey, so we were thinking of having a party at our place, well, the place we’re staying.”

“We were?” My head snaps to look at him with a frown. “I mean, will Stella be-”

Levi waves his hand. “Ah, she’ll be fine, when we tell her it’s to get to know all the fine fellas at this establishment, she won’t mind.”

Mario’s face is beaming with pride. “You boys, you’re good eggs. Bet Stella appreciates having you both around.”

I down the rest of the honeyed liquid, which coats my tongue and throat in a layer of sweetness so thick I can’t do anything else but simply nod. Levi grabs a piece of paper and a pen from Mario’s desk, and scrawls down his number and Stella’s address.

“Here, tell them to be there at 7pm tomorrow. Just some drinks, shoot some pool, let them get to know their new bosses.”

“They’ll be thrilled.” Mario looks like he’s about to burst into tears. He wags his finger at us both, and sighs happily. “You two, you two are going to look after this place.”

“Sure will.” Levi gets to his feet and leans across the table to shake Mario’s hand. “Now, thank you for the drink, but we have some things to do.”

Mario rises and shakes both our hands vigorously, thanking us again and again. We finally make it back out into the parking lot, and I turn to Levi with confusion.

“We have somewhere to be?”

“Sure.” He straddles his bike and pulls his helmet on. “Kinda hot this afternoon. Maybe we should go cool off by the lake.”

I’m on my bike and revving the engine before he has his helmet buckled.

The Fairview Lake parking lot is packed when we pull up. Loud music wafts up from the beach, and I know it’s probably full of college kids home for the summer. We park our bikes under some trees at the edge of the lot, and the fresh breeze that hits me when I take off my helmet is more than welcome.

The lake looks much like it did when we were last here, all those summers ago. The trees are taller, and there’s a new cafe on the edge of the clearing before the grass turns into sand. But everything else is the same - kids everywhere, teenagers playing music, families lying in the sun and plenty of folks swimming in the water.

Stella’s here somewhere, maybe making out with Jared fucking Marshall. Maybe he’s grabbing her ass while it’s barely covered in a tiny bikini. I hate myself for the renewed surge of jealousy that has me balling my fists at my sides. Is it wrong for Stella to date? She told me she wouldn’t make any promises. I read into it too much.When she said I had a chance, that wasn’t a guarantee.

But it still doesn’t do anything to temper the urge to find her and carry her off this beach like I’m a fucking caveman.

“Nice day, huh?” Levi peels off his shirt, tucking it into the back of his jeans.

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