Eliza arrives at my apartment first. She’s an anthropologist, and as soon as Mandy married Caiden, Eliza began researching the aliens of Eroscia. When I told her that Hunter was an ex-con she perked right up and said the laws on Eroscia are a different than ours, and she sounded optimistic about my situation. Her perky-blonde personality is in full swing when she walks in the door. “Once you tell me the whole thing we’ll figure this out,” she says before I can speak. She hands me a bottle of wine and gives me a one-armed hug. “Open this sucker up. Mandy should be here any minute.”

I notice a shopping bag on her arm, and she leads the way to the kitchen as it rustles. I say, “Thanks for coming over, but I don’t think we’re going to solve this.” My voice shakes as I fight tears. “I think Hunter fixed my program to make sure I came up as his perfect match.”

Eliza has stayed here many nights and she makes a bee-line right for the cabinet with my big bowls. A drawer scrapes open as I retrieve the wine opener, and bags rip as Eliza opens chips and cookies. “But here’s the thing,” says Eliza. “He could have been convicted of hacking as a child. The Eroscian government doesn’t wipe the slate clean when children become adults.”

“Really?” Could Hunter have been a difficult teen? I can certainly imagine it based on his defiance for authority, and a glimmer of hope shines in my mind.

Wine gurgles in a glass as Eliza says, “Eroscians also mark anyone who’s ever been guilty of a crime. It’s described as an aura-like brand that appears on the alien’s chest, but humans can’t see it.”

“Wow. So if you stole candy as a kid and got caught, you’d have a mark letting everyone know for the rest of your life?”

She nods. “They do it to keep the crime level down.”

I think about how nice it would be to easily identify the creeps out there, but then I imagine making a mistake as a child and having it haunt me for the rest of my life. “Do the marks signify what kind of crime it was?”

“Not exactly. They have different levels to help you know the severity. So murder would be a level five, and something similar to a speeding ticket would be level one.”

“Hello! Hello!” calls out Mandy as she lets herself in to my apartment. She enters the kitchen with her own shopping bags and pulls out ice cream containers. “What did I miss?” she asks as she comes over to squeeze me tight.

Eliza catches her up on what she just told me, and when she’s done Mandy says, “I’ve got some information of my own from Caiden. Hunter comes from a wealthy and powerful family, and he used to have a reputation for getting into trouble his parents bought him out of.” I sigh and Mandy jumps in. “It’s not as bad as that sounds. Caiden said it was pranks like taking a teacher’s car for a ride around the block because they left the keys inside.”

Eliza’s face lights up with excitement when she asks, “Does Caiden have a criminal mark?”

“I don’t think so. Hunter’s parents used to bail their son and his friends out of the trouble they’d get in.”

I say, “Well, maybe they thought it was childish pranks, but that’s the kind of stuff that is a gateway to more severe crimes.” Eliza and Mandy frown at me. “What?”

“You don’t remember when we stole Mrs. Fontaine’s glasses and kept them hidden from her for two days?”

I recall how the three of us were behind on our physics assignment and came up with the brilliant plan, and that the idea worked. It makes me cringe. “Okay, so none of us are criminals, but still.” Am I being too hard on Hunter? But if he’s lying....“Do you really believe Hunter and I are a one hundred percent match? He had to have rigged it. It all started with his profile.”

Mandy takes the glass of wine Eliza hands her. “Caiden swore to me that Hunter isn’t the kind of guy to do anything serious. I’m not so sure he lied to you. And I definitely don’t think he’s the kind of man to hack your program.”

“You don’t?” I recall how angry he was when Mandy and I first met him. “You do remember he was in handcuffs the day he was given to me like some kind of consolation prize.”

“I trust my husband, Lexi. If he swears Hunter is a good man, I believe it.” Mandy grabs a chip. “Caiden’s gone to see Hunter, so maybe we’ll get more information on what the conviction really is.”

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose as I remember how Hunter tried to explain, but I wouldn’t let him.

“What is it?” asks Eliza.

I sigh. “Hunter did try to explain. But I was so mad I wouldn’t let him talk.”

“Oh, honey. You were hurt and thought you’d been betrayed. I think we all would have acted that way.”

I shake my head as I smile at Eliza. “You wouldn’t.” My blonde friend takes in stray animals and people. She would have given Hunter the benefit of the doubt.

“True,” says Mandy. “But not all of us are saints.” She waggles her eyebrows at us and Eliza’s cheeks turn pink.

“You guys,” says Eliza, “I’m not that sweet.”

I tease back, “No, you’re not. Remember that time with the male dancers and those shots of tequila?”

Mandy and I chuckle as Eliza groans. “Stop. I’m still trying to get over the embarrassment I feel whenever I see a lime.”

I gulp down a mouthful of wine. “You shouldn’t. That guy had a lick-worthy chest, and you did us proud that night.”

“He gave you his number!” Mandy lifts her glass and tilts it toward Eliza. “Every woman in that place wanted to be you.”

Eliza’s lips turn up in a small smile. “He was into me, wasn’t he?”

“Girl, if you weren’t so concerned with finding the forever man, that dancer would have been a fun ride,” says Mandy as she reaches in her back pocket for her phone. She looks down at it. “Caiden said he talked to Hunter and he wants to know if he can come over to see you, Lexi.”

I take a deep breath before I nod. I may not be able to fully believe Hunter, but I do trust Caiden will tell me the real story. Maybe then I can make sense of who my husband really is.