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“It’s the kind you like, not a bargain item.”

Sadie stepped back from where she stashed her tote bag by the driver’s seat. She paused beside Mark, eyebrows knit. “Isn’t that what you were wearing yesterday?”

Mark glanced down at the gray, short-sleeved polo and jeans that actually yes, he had worn yesterday. “It would appear so.”

Sadie shook her head, though she was smiling. “And what was this gentleman’s name?”

“Uh… Eddie? Drake? Orlando?”

“Markie, you said you’d at least remember their names.”

“I probably remembered it last night.”

“Maybe,” Joan snickered.

“I’m pretty sure there was a D in it,” Mark said.

Sadie giggled. “Oh, there was a D in it all right.”

Mark burst out laughing and gave her an elbow bump. “Nice one.”

“Next time, will you at least remember their name?”

“I make no promises.”

Joan chuckled at them. She snagged a clean apron from one of the low metal cabinets as the two most important people in her life joked about Mark’s romantic escapades.

Prep work zipped along smoothly—a well-oiled machine at this point. She got the flat-top and fryer going, Sadie started on her hot chocolate, Mark got the toppings in order for the day’s chosen sandwiches. A comforting routine.

She adjusted her trusty black-and-red Vector City Vultures baseball cap in place.

Always a funny coincidence that her favorite team and her Spark suit had the same colors.

Only that suit was now the property of the Superheroes.

She kind of missed it. Or at least the anonymity it’d provided.

This hat was her Food Truck Joanie persona.

Like it would somehow shield her warming proteins and melting cheeses with fire from her bare hands.

“Hon, back me up on this.” Sadie bumped Joan with her hip.

“Always,” Joan assured her.

“You’re not even paying attention,” Mark said.

“I back Sadie up no matter what.”

“Ugh. Gross.”

Sadie grinned and leaned into Joan’s side. “Aww, thank you, honey-woney sweet potato blossom,” she cooed.

“ So gross,” Mark grunted.

Joan wrapped her arms around Sadie’s shoulders from behind, squeezing tight and kissing her soft cheek.

“That’s unsanitary.”

She kissed Sadie’s cheek several times, making her laugh.

Mark rolled his eyes. “Your girlfriend is so clingy, Sades.”

“Your girlfriend knows how good she has it and doesn’t take that for granted,” Joan said.

“Good,” Sadie said.

She patted Joan’s arms before pulling away to measure the milk. Beautiful, sweet, kind, endlessly forgiving Sadie. Yeah, no way was Joan gonna do anything to mess up this perfect life they’d created.

* * *

Classic rock echoed through the warehouse as Sadie checked the inventory inside the ancient, cranky fridge. The small kitchenette was really just a sink and a bit of counterspace.

What had once been a secret lair for Villains was now where they kept the food truck. Joan’s sedan was parked by Mark’s sporty blue car in the mostly empty space. The only things that remained from the old days were a worn folding table, some plastic chairs, and workout equipment in the far corner.

She made a note about excessive arugula on one of the many handy sheets Perry had prepared to keep them properly stocked. Cloud cover had made for a dreary night with low foot traffic, so they’d decided to close up a bit early.

Mark stepped out of the truck munching on his own personal version of the Harvest Moon sandwich. Extra turkey and provolone bulged out between untoasted slices of sourdough bread.

“You’re eating your profits again,” Sadie lightly teased.

“Shh. Don’t tell Perry.” He licked homemade ranch dressing from his index finger.

“He already texted about us closing early.”

“Why do we have the end-of-day reports sent to him again?”

“Because he’s the one who pays attention to them.”

Mark shrugged and took a huge bite.

It wasn’t that he and Joanie didn’t care about watching their budget. They’d just never been held accountable for expenses. Perry trusted Sadie to keep them in line as much as she could. And Perry trusted very few people, so it was a duty she took seriously.

Her position at Hot and Cold had expanded from being the people person and public face to also being the go-between whenever the other three resorted to witty remarks and the occasional use of superpowers instead of just listening to one another.

Ah, Supervillains. They still had a ways to go but were being more responsible every day.

“We got too much arugula at the farmers market,” she said. “Can you incorporate some into a recipe?”

“Sure,” Mark said as he joined her. “I’ll take some off your hands now.”

He reached into the fridge and pulled a few leaves out of the bag, then opened his sandwich and placed them on top.

“That’s coming out of your paycheck,” Sadie said, closing the refrigerator door before he could steal more items.

“Fine with me. I don’t have taxes taken out when I’m paid in food.”

She stopped the music on her phone. No notifications on her lock screen.

There were almost never any from the SuperWatch app since setting it to high alerts only.

Just the occasional Superhero activity involving regular citizens.

Like when Catch moved some downed power lines from a storm, her ability to absorb energy keeping her safe.

Sadie chuckled to herself. A year ago, she’d have swooned over Catch’s brave heroics.

But the woman behind the navy-blue mask—Darlene—was pretty dull.

All of Vector City’s Superheroes had visited Hot and Cold as their true selves.

Checking up on Joan and Mark for sure. Darlene couldn’t hold a candle to Joan.

Well, she could literally, but Joan would melt it just to spite her.

Speaking of Joan… She was finishing up the dishes in the truck, so this was a good time to catch Mark alone. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something,” Sadie said. “Joanie had another nightmare. It’s her second one this month.”

Mark’s eyebrows met in concern.

“She keeps telling me they’re nothing to worry about, but I know there’s more to it. Can you talk to her?”

“Of course.”

“I think… I mean, they started after the incident with Trick. I think she hasn’t dealt with what happened, and it’s coming out in other ways.”

Like how it was coming out in Mark by how he spent more and more nights on the town or at Sadie and Joan’s place. Like he didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts. But that was a conversation Joanie needed to have with him.

“I just know it’s easier for her to open up about that part of her life with you,” Sadie added.

“She worships the ground you walk on. That’s why she doesn’t like bringing that crap up around you. But I’ll ask her about it.”

“Thank you.”

Mark nudged her with his elbow. “Are you still doing okay after getting Trick-napped?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Sadie said. “It was weird being under mind control, and I definitely needed Joanie to drive me to and from work for those few weeks afterward. But it got better. Knowing Trick can’t hurt anyone anymore really helps.”

“Good.”

Joan exited the truck, fitted flannel sleeves rolled up, hair tousled from wearing her hat. Her glorious forearms glistened with drops of water. Ungh, she was so hot. Literally, figuratively, and all points in between.

Dampness seeped through the cement floor and walls. Sadie went over to the long table to grab her magenta fleece off one of the plastic chairs.

“Are you cold?” Joan asked.

“A little.”

“Here.” She wrapped Sadie in her arms. A moment later, her body heat radiated out.

“Ahh. Thank you.” Sadie nestled closer and rested her cheek in the crook of Joan’s neck. The faint odor of canola oil from the flat-top and fryer clung to her shirt.

“We’ve got a lot of arugula,” Mark said around the sandwich in his mouth. “I was thinking of using it for pesto. Mashed chickpeas and shaved parmesan for a vegetarian option.”

“With sliced Roma tomatoes?” Joan nodded against Sadie’s forehead. “Sounds good.”

“I’ll see what’s in season at the farmers market on Saturday. I want fresh tomatoes.”

“Keep our standards high, chef,” Sadie said. The cherry tomato plant on their apartment balcony was not a fan of the cooler winter weather.

Mark started to say something, then cried out as a glop of ranch dripped onto his shirt. He swore and rushed to the sink.

Joan tilted her chin down. “So we’ve got some extra time this evening,” she murmured.

“We could watch the news and go to bed like a proper old couple,” Sadie joked. Though that sounded pretty good.

“We could. Or…” Joan’s hands slid lower. “We could use the bed for some different activities.”

“We’ll see when we get home.”

“I can thoroughly warm you up.” Joan squeezed her butt cheeks.

“You always do.”

“Uninterrupted private sex time.”

Sadie laughed and de-nestled from Joan’s chest. Her girlfriend’s bright amber eyes glimmered with intent.

“I promise to make it worth your while.” Joan waggled her eyebrows. She was so ridiculous.

“I’m kind of not in the mood, babe.”

Her face contorted like not having sex was the single most painful event in history.

“We had morning shower sex,” Sadie reminded her.

“That was hours ago ,” Joan moaned. She went in for a kiss that Sadie dodged.

“ Joanie .”

“Sadie.”

“You’ve been so horny lately. What’s up with that?”

“I don’t know.” Joan scratched at her hair. “I’m just feeling…” She flicked a few tiny sparks off her fingers. Something she had to do when she had too much fire built up. “Itchy. Like there’s a backload of fire I need to release.”

“You need to do something about that.”

She raised her eyebrows like Sex would help with that.

“You have to get that out of your system.” Sadie waved toward the kitchenette. “Mark does, too.”

“Mark does what now?” he said, blotting his shirt with a wet paper towel.

“You both have been total horndogs lately.”

He nodded in agreement, then frowned. “Okay, but ew. Please don’t ever tell me how horny my sister is.”

“You know she is,” Sadie said.

“I don’t want that in my head, Sades.”