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Chapter Fifty-Nine: Just A Distraction

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I didn't bother to knock. Just twisted the knob and pulled open the door before I could have second thoughts.

"Alivia?" Steve looked up from where he was seated on the bed.

His shirt had been discarded near the bathroom, and he'd slipped on a pair of loose sweats to sleep in. His gaze lifted to mine, and he frowned.

"You alright?" He asked, as he stood and closed the distance between us.

I shut the door behind me. The moment I heard the click of it falling closed, I turned to Rogers, pulling his face down to mine with a hand around his neck.

Our lips met only briefly, before he pulled away, stunned.

"Well that wasn't the reaction I was going for," I said sheepishly, taking a small back step.

Before my hand dropped from his face, he caught it, keeping it pressed against the side of his neck. He looked down at me, eyes moving around my face as though he was trying to figure out my thoughts. I tried to keep them buried.

"Please," I said, not moving my eyes from his, "Can I just stay here with you tonight?"

There was a long silence. Then his lips were pressed into mine. This kiss was short too, and he separated from me after a few moments for long enough to say, "Of course."

As soon as the words had left his lips, we were entangled again. I bit back the feelings of guilt that gnawed at the back of my mind. The voice that told me how wrong it was to be using Steve as just a distraction.

But even worse than the guilt, was the bitterness in my throat every time I tried to run my fingers through his long black hair, only to remember that Steve's was light, and cropped close to his head.

I shoved it all down. Pulled Steve even closer to me as his hands lowered to my hips.

He steered me back until my legs brushed against the bed. And slowly, he guided me down, pushing his lips into mine. I felt his tongue glide against mine, his teeth against my lips. There was something restrained about the way he kissed me. Something timid and hesitant.

Deciding I wouldn't wait for him to move first, I pulled my shirt up over my head, discarding it somewhere on the floor. His face flushed a deep red as his eyes roamed my skin. When his body pressed back into me, there was that exhilarating feeling of skin against skin. That pleasant warmth that sparked across my skin, and pooled low between my hips.

I pulled away, kissing along his jaw.

"Is this what you want?"

The question caught me off guard. I stopped, pulling back. "What do you mea—" He silenced me with a look. I swallowed. "I don't... I don't know."

"I'm more than willing to do this with you if that's what you want," he said, "But I know you don't feel the same way towards me that you do towards him."

He didn't need to remind me. I was plenty aware of that.

"You're one to talk," I said, "Pretty sure your heart still belongs to a girl you loved seventy years ago."

He flinched, and I immediately regretted it.

"I'm sorry," I said, biting the inside of my cheek. "I shouldn't have said that."

He slid off me, sitting down beside me on the bed. "It's okay. You're not wrong. It seems crazy to everyone else. That I could still be caught up in those feelings after so long. But to me, it doesn't seem so long ago."

"I never said it was crazy. You want to see crazy, look no further than me," I joked flatly. "I'm in love with a God who tried to take over the world. And he doesn't love me back."

The words were acrid on my tongue.

Steve sighed, long and deep. Then, he stooped, picking up my shirt and handing it to me. I slipped it back on.

"You're important to me, Al," he said after a few long moments, "Its not right for us to use each other as distractions. I promise you that if the two of us ever sleep together, you'll be the only girl I have eyes for. And you definitely won't be thinking about another man."

I nodded. "Can I still... Would you mind if I stayed? I don't want to be by myself."

"You're more than welcome to," he said with a soft smile, reclining so that his head sunk into the pillows.

"Thank you," I said, mirroring his movements.

He drew a blanket over us, and pulled at the lamp string. Darkness fell.

The moment I shut my eyes, my mind began to dance frantically between thoughts. Van Leer. Alessandro. CELS. My powers. Loki.

But then I felt Steve's arm slide across my waist. It wasn't in a romantic or sexual way. It was in a comforting way. Meant to assure me, that even in the dark I wasn't alone.

I focused my mind on that small amount of contact until finally, I fell asleep.

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A knock at the door pulled me from my sleep, and I blinked groggily. Steve was already making for the door as I got out of bed, folding my arms over my chest.

The door swung open to reveal Nat and Loki, who both entered without asking. Knowing I hadn't slept with Steve, I momentarily forgot to be embarrassed at how it looked that we'd both slept in the same room.

The look on Nat's face reminded me to be.

"You two got busy last night, huh?" She waggled her eye brows.

I rolled my eyes but didn't bother to correct her, instead looking to Loki to read his reaction. His jaw was a hard line and his eyes roamed the length of my body, settling on my eyes. He watched me like he didn't care whether I, or anyone else, noticed.

"No," Steve answered, interrupting my thoughts, "But I certainly hope you did."

Based on her smirk, Nat clearly didn't believe Steve. And I wasn't quite sure I cared whether she did. Whether Loki did.

Nat pulled out the phone, and I suddenly remembered that there were much more important things than my stupid feelings. For starters, CELS. I turned my full attention on Natasha.

"I did," she smiled. And for the first time since the trunk, so did I. A genuine smile. "You can save the applause, though, we have to move fast. I cracked the phone's GPS history, and rooted out a location. An abandoned storage facility out in the middle of nowhere. Secluded, forgotten. I looked deeper into it, and turns out, its on land owned by—Guess who?"

"Trutex," I filled in.

"Bingo," Nat said, grinning, "They might be on to us, though. After that guard woke without his phone, he probably sounded the alarm. Properties will probably be vacated and relocated asap. So the four of us need to move now."

I nodded firmly. "Let's take this son of a bitch down."

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