When seventeen-year-old Mark Potts fell from a balcony, he lost both the use of his legs and any faith in heroes. Now twenty-nine, he’s long-since come to terms with his injury. His job provides more opportunities for eye-rolling than for riding to anybody’s rescue, but with two kids to bring up, he barely has time for his husband, much less for heroics. Besides, Starr Bradford is a policeman -- how many heroes does one family need?<br><br>Mark and Starr love each other madly, but stress management is a load-bearing pillar of their happiness. When Mark’s coping skills fail him at exactly the wrong moment, he’s left hanging by a thread of words he should’ve kept in his mouth. He has the power to repair their relationship, but when Starr’s workday suddenly goes south, will he get to wield it? Keeping it together long enough to find out is a job worthy of any superhero!

You Had Me at Hero

“Okay, so I am at Walk-In Closet, you know, that consignment shop? I’m looking for a dress for this wedding I have to go to next weekend. It’s just this guy from my boyfriend’s work, they’re like not even really friends, right, so I’m not trying to spend a fortune, but my ex-boyfriend might be there, too, so I’m trying to look some kind of put together, you know?”


The urge to one-up an ex was not completely alien to Mark, but it’s not like the wedding was that same evening; so far, no, they did not seem to have an emergency on their hands. “Uh huh,” he said.


“Well so, they’re open, right? Or, they’re supposed to be. And the lights are on, but the door’s locked. I knock, and there’s no answer, but it’s regular business hours, they don’t close ‘til seven. And there are lights on, but the door’s locked. I was yanking on it, like in case it was just stuck or acting funny, but it’s locked. It just feels a little off, you know?”


Chapter 18