You are hot
She thought the party was it, that she would never see Steve again. But how wrong she was, something at that party had changed for her.
When they arrived at her building that night, she felt like she didn’t want to leave the car. She wanted to stay, to spend more time with him, to hold on to the safety she felt in his presence.
“Silly girl, he’s just a powerful man being polite,” her inner voice reminded her.
Listening to that voice, she stepped out of the car, thanking him for his help and for taking her home.
She didn’t expect to have any further contact with him, but when Monday arrived, a knock on her door proved otherwise.
When she opened it, she found a bouquet of flowers on her doorstep. It was large, filled with every kind of flower she had seen in Bucky’s garden, with a note attached:
“Your personal piece of a fairy tale. —S.R.”
She couldn’t suppress the smile forming on her face, her stomach filling with butterflies, her heartbeat quickening.
She wondered if he had asked Bucky for the names of each flower or if he already knew them. Either way, she loved the bouquet.
“Just being polite, huh?” she said aloud, talking to herself.
She took out her phone and, after staring at their chat for a few seconds, she texted him.
“Thanks for the flowers. They’re beautiful,” she wrote.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. I saw how your face lit up when you saw them in Bucky’s garden.”
She read the message and felt warmth spread through her. He had been paying attention to her. Her heart beat even faster.
She didn’t know exactly what was happening. On one hand, she wanted to keep her guard up, unsure of Steve’s true intentions. But on the other, Darcy’s words rang loud and clear, she had been keeping a safe distance from everything and everyone, and she wasn’t really living her life.
She decided to go with the flow and give this, whatever this was, a chance. She felt comfortable around Steve, and that alone spoke volumes. Even if he was only looking for friendship, she was open to that idea. But something inside her told her that wasn’t the case.
For the next few days, she woke up to a “good morning” text from him. Every time she read one of his messages, her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
She found herself feeling happier in her daily life, so much so that, for the first time since moving to New York, she agreed to go out with Jane and Darcy for a girls’ night on Saturday.
She knew it wasn’t much, but they were baby steps toward regaining control over her mind and over Greg. She had stopped going to any kind of social event because he didn’t like them. Well… he didn’t like it when she was the one going out, not the other way around.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she received a text from Steve. It was later than usual, but she didn’t think much of it. It was Friday, after all, and he was probably busy working.
“Hi, sweetheart. Just wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me tomorrow?”
She read the message and then re-read it to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.
“Is he asking me on a date?” she thought, barely believing what she was reading.
She was about to say yes, but then she remembered she had already promised Jane and Darcy she would go out with them. She groaned internally.
“I can’t tomorrow. I promised Darcy and Jane I’d go out with them. Can we do it another day? Sorry.”
She felt a knot form in her stomach.
“What if he gets angry and doesn’t want to see me again?” her inner voice whispered, like always, with intrusive thoughts.
She took a deep breath and waited for his answer, fidgeting with her fingers.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Go and have fun with your friends. How does Tuesday sound?”
She relaxed the moment she read his reply. He wasn’t angry at her.
“Tuesday sounds perfect” she texted back, smiling at the screen. “Thanks, Steve.”
Saturday came around, and she found herself at Jane’s apartment getting ready. She had already tried on multiple dresses from Jane and Darcy’s collection and was about to give up. It was frustrating.
“I look fat,” she said, staring at herself in the mirror.
“Nu-uh, you look healthy,” Darcy corrected. “And hot.”
“Agreed,” Jane chimed in. “When you first got to New York, you were way too skinny.”
They were right… again. When she had arrived to New York, she had been underweight. Now, she was at a healthy weight, but she still felt bad about the pounds she had gained in the past few months.
“Think of it this way,” Darcy teased. “Now you’ve got boobs and a good ass to grab.”
She snorted out a laugh.
“Okay, okay, I get your point.”
She grabbed another dress from the pile on the bed and put it on. “What about this one?” she asked, showing it to her friends.
It was a black, backless dress, slightly above the knee. She looked at herself in the mirror and liked how she looked. But when she turned around, she grimaced. There, on her back, was one of the scars Greg had left her. She was always careful to keep them covered.
“The dress suits you perfectly,” Jane said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “If you let your hair down, no one will see the scar. And it’s going to be dark in there.”
“Don’t let Greg control your new life,” she reminded herself.
She nodded, and they continued getting ready. By the time Thor’s driver arrived, they were ready and in the mood to have fun.
When they got to the club, the first thing she noticed was that they entered without waiting in line. “Princess privilege,” Jane had told her.
The second thing she noticed was how packed the place was and how loud the music played. She could barely hear Darcy trying to say something.
They made their way through the crowd until they reached the table they were looking for. Three girls were already sitting there. She had seen them at the party but didn’t know their names.
“Natasha, Wanda, Yelena,” Darcy introduced, pointing at each of them. “This is Cupcake.”
“Oh, you’re the baker girl!” Wanda said cheerfully.
“More like Steve’s girl,” Natasha teased with a knowing smile.
“What? No… I mean… I’m not…” she stammered, struggling to form a coherent sentence.
“Relax, Cupcake, I’m just joking,” Natasha grinned. “Or maybe not…”
She didn’t comment on the fact that others were starting to call her Cupcake. She knew it was only a matter of time for people to start calling her that. And strangely, it felt better to be called that than the fake name she had been using. It felt more real, more like her.
After a few rounds of drinks, the six of them stood up and made their way to the dance floor. She felt a little rusty when it came to dancing, but she followed the others anyway, she was there to have fun.
“Come on, Cupcake, you need to let go,” Yelena told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a dance. She snorted a laugh but started following Yelena’s moves.
It didn’t take long before her body started moving to the music on its own. Dancing with her friends, she was genuinely having the time of her life. She didn’t know if it was the company, the place, the drinks she’d already had, maybe a combination of everything, but in that moment, she was just herself.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and automatically tensed up. When she turned around, she found a not-bad-looking guy asking her to dance. She shook her head, declining the offer with a polite smile. To her surprise, the man didn’t insist and simply moved on to another girl.
She sighed in relief and turned back to continue having fun with her friends. She could see how tipsy they all were, singing, dancing, joking, and laughing.
The night went on like that, with them drinking and dancing to every song they could. When a particularly sexy song started playing, she found herself dancing with Natasha. She and the red-haired woman had hit it off well, and they started dancing very close to each other.
Then, suddenly, she felt an arm wrap around her waist, pulling her back against a firm chest.
She spun around, ready to snap at whoever had just grabbed her, but she froze the moment she saw him.
Steve stood behind her, one arm wrapped securely around her waist, the other resting lightly on her hip.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” he murmured into her ear, his voice husky and teasing. “I saw how nice you were dancing with Nat and couldn’t help myself.”
She closed her eyes for a second, feeling her body react to his words.
Maybe it was the alcohol rushing through her veins, or maybe it was the fact that she had already admitted to herself that she liked this man. Whatever the reason, she kept dancing just like she had been with Nat, only now, her body fit perfectly against his, her back pressed to his chest.
When the song ended and another began, Steve turned her around, his hands never leaving her body. His eyes flickered between her lips and her eyes, and she bit down on her lower lip in response. How bad she wanted to kiss him.
They started closing the distance between them, the world around them fading away…
Their lips were about to meet…
When she felt a sharp yank on her hair, pulling her away from Steve.
It took her a few seconds to process what was happening. She looked back at where she had been standing and saw a furious woman screaming at Steve before slapping him hard across the face.
His expression darkened, his jaw clenching as blood trickled from a small cut on his cheek, one of the woman’s rings must have caught his skin. But she could see how he was restraining himself, fists clenched at his sides, holding back from reacting.
The woman raised her hand, ready to slap him again, but this time, she was faster.
She didn’t slap her. She punched her, right in the middle of her face.
Adrenaline surged through her veins as she watched blood spill from the woman’s nose.
She heard Steve gasp, followed by someone saying, “Holy shit, did she just…” but she couldn’t tell if it was Tony or Bucky. She was too focused on the woman in front of her, who was now picking herself up off the floor.
“You fucking bitch,” the woman shrieked, ready to lunge at her.
She was more than ready to fight back, but before anything else could happen, Bucky grabbed the woman while Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and practically dragged her toward the back of the club.
“Steve, let me go!” she huffed, struggling against his hold.
“Not a chance, sweetheart,” he replied, and she could swear she heard him chuckling, but the music was too loud to be sure.
The moment they stepped into an office, she heard the door close behind them, locking her away from the fight. The space was small, dimly lit, and, more than anything, quiet.
“I didn’t know you had that in you, sweetheart,” Steve said, openly laughing now.
Just like that, all the anger left her body. His laugh was beautiful.
He stepped closer, extending a hand toward her. “Let me take a look at that hand.”
“I’m fine.” She stretched out her fingers. It wasn’t the first time she’d been in a fight. “I just need to put some ice on it. You are the one who needs to clean that before it gets infected.” She gestured toward his cheek, where the cut was still bleeding. “Do you have a first aid kit here?”
Steve pointed to one of the cabinets, and she walked over, tying her hair up in a ponytail before grabbing the kit.
Returning to him, she pointed to the couch. “Sit.”
She caught the teasing smile forming on his lips, but he obeyed.
She sat on the coffee table in front of him, positioning herself between his legs. Pulling on a pair of gloves, she got to work.
“This might sting a little,” she warned, pressing a cotton ball against his wound. She felt him tense.
“What was all that about?” she asked, not losing focus. “Is she your ex?”
“No, she’s not my ex.”
She shot him a skeptical look but didn’t comment.
“She asked me on a date a couple of months ago, and I rejected her.”
“Oh. I suppose that’s a problem only hot people deal with.” She teased, finishing up the bandaging “Done,” she said with a proud smile.
“You’re awfully good at patching people up.” He touched his cheek. Then his smirk deepened. “So… you think I’m hot?”
Her breath hitched at the way his voice dropped to a lower, huskier tone. A shiver ran down her spine.
“I’m sure you have mirrors in your house,” she deflected, looking away as she pretended to busy herself with the first aid kit.
But then she felt his fingers under her chin, gently tilting her face back toward him.
She didn’t know how much time passed as they stared at each other. The air between them was charged, his gaze dark with something unreadable.
“I want to hear it from you,” he murmured. It wasn’t a request, it was a demand.
Her pulse pounded. “I think you’re hot.”
He smirked.
“I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
She gasped, searching his face for any sign of deception. But there was none. He meant every word.
He leaned in, his lips ghosting over hers, her heart racing.
She didn’t know who closed the distance first. But when their lips finally met, fire erupted inside her.
The kiss started slow, just a taste. Her hands slid behind his neck as his hands gripped her waist, pulling her closer. The kiss deepened with every second, growing more intense, more desperate, until they were both breathless, separating only to gasp for air before crashing back together.
A knock at the door broke the moment.
“Boss, the girls are leaving. They’re waiting for her,” Thor’s voice came from the other side.
She exhaled heavily. “I guess it’s time to go.”
“No more picking fights, sweetheart,” Steve teased before pressing one last, lingering kiss to her lips. “I’ll pick you up on Tuesday.”
“See you on Tuesday,” she whispered, smiling.
As she walked out, she linked her arm with Darcy’s, unable to wipe the smile off her face.
“You’re way too happy for someone who just got into a fight,” Jane mused. “Did something interesting happen?”
She grinned. “You have no idea.”