Page 93 of Books and Hookups

“Yeah, we…” I couldn’t say we’d broken up since we’d never really been together. It had been nothing but a one-sided fantasy. “We aren’t seeing much of each other these days. I think she’s working on her book.”

Andrew had come by the other night and picked up a bag from her place. And then the whole gang had brought her back a couple days later, walking as a phalanx with Lucie in the center. The message was clear: stay away, Danny. After that, I’d heard her door open and close a few times, mostly around mealtimes. She was probably getting delivery. The sticky note I’d put on her door,Let me know if you need anything,had disappeared the following day. No response.

She didn’t want anything. Not from me. And that hurt more than anything she’d said at the park.

“Why don’t you take a break?” Barb said. “Leo looks like he wants to talk.” She tipped her chin toward the corner booth, where Leo sat alone, nursing a beer.

I supposed we needed to talk. I’d given Leo the silent treatment for almost a month, since the day he’d shown me that crappy kitchen. “You sure?”

“Yeah. Nico and I can manage for a bit.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I missed my brother, and it was time to act like the grown-up I was.

I poured myself an ice water and took it to Leo’s table. “Mind if I sit?”

He watched me warily. “Go ahead.”

I slid into the booth. “Listen?—”

At the same time, he said, “Look, Danny?—”

We chuckled. “Go ahead,” he said. “You first.”

I sipped my water, then set it down. “I’m sorry I was a dick about that restaurant space. I was disappointed about my plans for the bar. But you’re allowed to have different dreams and plans than mine. You should buy that space if it’s still available.”

His eyes lit with a hopeful expression, then he looked down at the table. “That’s not fair to you. I said I’d buy the bar with you, and I’m a man of my word. I’ll do it. And we’ll be so successful that in a few years, I’ll have enough money saved that I can buy an even better space and run the catering business as a side hustle.”

I flashed him a wry smile. “While I appreciate your confidence, that might take a while. And by then, you might have other goals, like a family. I don’t want you to miss out on this chance.”

“But what about you?”

“I’ll figure it out. I made appointments with a few banks on Monday. One of them will approve a loan for me to make up the difference, I’m sure.” My words were confident, but my stomach twisted. Why would a bank lend money to me? I’d done the research and found that restaurants and bars had one of the highest failure rates of any type of small business. Any banker worth his shiny loafers would tell me margins were thinner than a slice of prosciutto. But why tell Leo that? We expressed our love through food and drink. Neither of us could imagine doing anything different.

“You think?” Leo’s smile was tentative. “I bet Uncle Gio and Aunt Connie would write you letters of recommendation. The bank would be nuts not to lend you money to buy this bar.”

“A loan?” Tad slithered up to our table. “You think a bank will lendyoumoney?” He ticked off points on his fingers. “No college degree. No collateral. And your nobody aunt and uncle to vouch for you. Hmm, sounds like you’ve got it in the bag.”

“Fuck off, Tad,” Leo growled.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tad said. “I meantI’vegot it in the bag. Barb’s retiring at the end of November. If you don’t have the cash, she’ll have no choice but to sell to me. And by then, she’ll be desperate enough to give me the family discount.” He turned to assess the bar. “I think I’ll bring a contractor by on Monday to take some measurements.”

Leo’s hand balled into a fist. I set my palm over it. Tad had said what I already knew. Best not to piss him off if he was going to be my boss in a few weeks.

Like he could read the thought on my face, Tad smirked and sauntered off toward the bar. I hoped the mint for his mojito had wilted.

“You can’t let him have it,” Leo muttered. “We can’t let him ruin what Barb built. Where will Frank go? And Walter? What about Norm and Nico? Nico can’t get another job with his rap sheet, and Norm flipped burgers for the dinosaurs. No one else is gonna hire him.” He scrubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll sell my food truck if I have to. Whatever it takes to keep Tad’s manicured fingers out of this place. How much can you get for a kidney?”

“Keep your kidney. It won’t come to that,” I said with more confidence than I felt.

A toddler ran past our table, followed closely by his dad. He grabbed the kid under the armpits and swung him up in the air. The boy laughed and laughed. “Come on,” the dad said, “let’s eat some french fries to soak up that Shirley Temple.” Clutching his kid, he walked back to the table where his partner sat, a loving grin on his face.

“Hey,” Leo said softly. “You look like you dropped your ice cream cone. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” I took another sip of water.

He glanced at the family, now struggling to get the buzzing child into the highchair. “Ma, uh, she told me about your proposal. Are you okay?”

My cheeks burned with shame. “I made a bad call. I thought Lucie and I wanted the same thing. But we don’t. I wanted more. She wants things to stay the same.”

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