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I can’t meet their joy, no matter how hard I try. Instead, my eyes dart around, eventually landing on a dark figure walking down the path back to town. He has his head down, hands in his pockets.

It seems I’m not the only one who can’t get in on the excitement.

Rhenn came across as annoyed after returning to the field. Now he seems…sad? It’s hard to tell from behind, but he’s definitely moping. Dragging his feet and walking slowly. I look again at my girls, clucking away, far too busy in their own worlds to notice the dark fog surrounding one particular man.

Maybe I should be celebrating too. I won the game, after all. But I didn’t beat him at it. Rhenn gave it to me.

For some unknown reason.

And for another unknown reason, I follow him.

We walk for a while, him far ahead and me stepping lightly, being as discreet as I can from behind.

By the time we finally reach town, I’m beginning to question my sanity. It’s not like I care where he’s going. His mood swings, though…from soft, to unsure, to…this. I can’t help but wonder what’s happening in his mind. Why he seems so lost.

Was being intimate with me really that bad?

He stops in the middle of the road, standing there for a full minute before taking a left and heading into a small market.

I find an apple stand to hide behind while I wait for him to come out.

Shoppers pass me by, each with purpose and a lightness in their journeys. Something that can be seen with just a look in their unwavering gazes. It’s the one thing I’ve never seemed to find. Purpose. And after these last few weeks, I know I’m not the only one.

Rhenn was right, we are matched. In soul and body, but not in mind. The physical attraction is real, the unexplainable conflict to feel one another. Wanting what you can’t have is only natural. Things forbidden feel best. It’s always better when it’s wrong.

Until they show their true image, turning sour and leaving you with nothing more than whiplash and a hollow pit you can’t ever seem to fill. My problem? I already know his true image. Rhenn has never tried to hide who he is. He’s never tried to conceal his disapproval toward me. Until recently, that is. Maybe he feels guilty for being such an ass in the beginning. Or maybe he finally realizes that I never did anything to deserve it in the first place. Either way, it could never work. We may be matched, but we could never be paired.

Rhenn finally emerges from the shop and I quickly duck behind the fruit stand. He carries two full bags in each hand, filled with what looks like mostly food, along with one plush toy tucked under his right arm, its shape resembling a dolphin, or perhaps a whale.

Weird.

He heads down a side road, no indication that he’s aware of me following behind. I can’t stop now, not with my curiosity fully piqued, not only at his odd purchase of the toy, but also because I swear I saw him bringing in groceries yesterday, so why buy so much more today?

I glance over my shoulder, realizing this isn’t even the way home.

Where is he going?

A few turns later and he starts up a narrow pathway leading to a single-story house. The home is small, with a wooden porch barely large enough to hold the two people seated on the steps—a woman, no more than a few years older than me, and a young boy, five or six, if I had to guess, who shares her curly hair.

They both look up when they hear Rhenn approaching, a radiant smile blooming across their faces. The woman stands, taking the bags and giving him a quick hug. Rhenn leans down, making himself level with the child, then hands him the stuffed toy. If the glow in that kid’s eyes could replace the sun, it would. Pure and true exhilaration. He squeezes it to his chest, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

I watch as the little boy takes the toy to the yard, plopping down in the overgrown grass, and begins to play, leaving Rhenn and the mystery woman to talk. I’m unable to hear them, but it’s apparent how grateful she is, and I can’t help but wonder who they are to each other.

Their conversation doesn’t last long. The two hug a second time and Rhenn waves to the boy—still very distracted in his world of make-believe.

With his departure, the woman enters her house, taking the bags he’d given her inside. My desire to follow him has faded, replaced instead by the curiosity of this small family he’s somehow connected to. Are they friends? Something more? He was so sweet with the boy, and his mother clearly admired Rhenn for it.

It’s not often I see other dimensions of the man I share my living space with. So with very little thought on my end, I wander toward the house.

The front door, though weathered, brings an instant smile to my face. It’s covered in different colored handprints, smaller near the base, slowly getting larger near the center. I can only imagine they belong to the young boy, a wonderful display of his growth over the short span of his life.

With my fist up to knock, the screen door swings open and the brunette steps out. “Oh,” she says, sounding startled. “Hi there. Can I help you?” Her hazel eyes flash to her son, then back to me, offering a sweet smile.

“Yes, um, the guy that was just here…”

“Mama, look!” I’m cut short by the little boy’s rushed excitement, running up beside me to show her something. He’s used dandelion stems to create a necklace around the toy Rhenn had given him. A shark, I notice, not a whale. “I made you one too.” He hands her a ribbon of pressed together weeds, lacing it over her dainty wrist.

“Wow, I love it!” She holds up her arm, examining the homemade gift from her child.