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Teri slides her arm around my hips, head turning to look behind us. “Those high school girls are burning holes through your clothes!” she hisses angrily.

“What? Nonsense.” I shake my head and cast a casual glance over my shoulder. I’ve lived here for years, part of the background. Unnoticed unless your pipes burst.

But sure enough, a quartet of girls is staring. Some blush and giggle when they meet my incredulous gaze.

They notice me.

Something has changed. Maybe it’s something in me—some spark? Something that gives me more form, more presence in the human world?

I shake my head and wash that thought away. It’s Teri. She’s stunning. They’re wondering how some big clod like me ended up with a honey-toned goddess like her.

“Staring? Not at me, at you. Same for half the men in this store. They’re all wondering how I got so lucky.”

“Homicidal exes for the win,” Teri mutters with a wry smile.

She makes me laugh, even in the dark moments. “Delgado was an idiot,” I mutter back, my head close to her ear.

Therese looks up, a flash of surprise and pain in her eyes shooting daggers into me.

I’ve seen a lot of people in pain. I’m not an ass about it, but I don’t usually stop and get all cuddly about it, either. Therese erases a lifetime of calmly carrying on. I pull her closer to me, pushing our cart with one hand. “That’s not on you, Teri. He fooled the world. A trusting, kind heart is easy to deceive—and Iwouldn’t have it any other way. Hope and a willingness to seek the good are beautiful qualities that too many people lose.”

“Are you sure you’re not confusing hopeful and kind with idiotic and naive?” she sighs, grabbing a box of cereal.

“No, I’m not. I’ve been in a lot of tight spots over the years. I’ve seen men far worse than Delgado. The person who can make life brighter, even for a second, is the kind you hold onto. He... he should have changed his career if it meant keeping you. He should have changed allegiances, should have changed hislifeif it meant keeping you.” That’s all I can say in public. Therese’s hand hesitantly slides into my back pocket as we walk along. It’s her silent way of saying thanks—and making it hard to walk.

“Too much?” she asks, one eyebrow climbing high, drawing attention to the apple of her cheek and the crooked grin she risks giving me.

“I’d expect nothing less from you,Mrs. Gray.”

“I have a feeling you might have severely underestimated me,Mr.Gray.” She emphasizes the wordmisterwith a squeeze on my cheek, hand staying firmly in my pocket.

“How do you mean?”

“If you’re good, I’ll show you later.”

“Excuse me.” An older woman with her hair in a sharp, uneven bob passes us, glaring. I hear her growling under her breath, “Get a room.”

“We’re doing things right,” I sigh. “We’re pissing off cranky Karens.”

Therese grins at me. I grin back. That little buzzing in my chest can’t be silenced, and it’s like a symphony. The whole world has new sounds, and the empty spaces in my mind are filling in.

The assignment I didn’t want to take is turning out to be fun—and so much more.

CHIPS AND GRANOLA BARSgo in the cart. Some steaks. Canned soup. Pasta, milk, cheese, eggs, bread, butter, and the basics for a few days. “Do newlyweds eat out more?”

“Not if they’re honeymooning at home,” Therese shrugs and looks at the coffee. “Do we have a coffee pot?”

“Yes, and you’re an angel. I’m semi-coffee-dependent. Sometimes it’s the only thing pulling me out of hibernation.” I grab for a bag of my favorite roast and find my hand covering hers. “This is my favorite.”

“Mine, too. I wonder what else we have in common,” she whispers, walking ahead of me.

I swallow the drool that forms when I watch her hips sway, carrying her a few steps ahead of the cart.

Is she leading me on? Thinking of me as just a final fling? There have been others who’ve clung, looking for comfort. I always rebuffed them, kindly but firmly, genuinely wishing I felt something but finding nothing there.

It’s not like that with Teri. If she wants to give me a chance... by God, I’m going to take it. It’s not the most altruistic thought I’ve ever had, but it’s there all the same.

The thing inside of me.... I know what it is, even if I’m afraid to name it.