It's a promise

Chapter 29

Steve'sPOV

This was the best birthday I have ever had. I looked over to Rylee who had a salad bowl in her hands and walked out on the porch. I stood at the grill and waited until it was hot enough so I could put the steaks on.

'I just hope you're better at grilling than cooking.' She put the bowl on the table and came to the grill to give me a little kiss.

'Shouldn't you be nicer? It's my birthday.' I loved this playfulness between us. The lightness between us was a thing I never expected to have in a relationship. I also never expected to really find a woman who saw more in me than Captain America.

'I'll promise that I'll be a good girl later.' She smirked and turned around to walk back inside. I grabbed the barbecue tong tighter. She was a tease and she knew exactly what she was doing. When she stood at the door, she turned around and winked at me. I was very close to just forget about the food and take her on the kitchen counter like I nearly did in the morning. While I was still thinking about it she came back outside with iced tea and beer. She arranged everything on the table before she went inside again.

I put my attention back to the grill and the meat before I felt her arms around my body. She stayed next to me while we waited for the steaks to be ready. One arm around her with my hand on her waist and the other hand held the barbecue tong. It felt domestic and for a moment I thought about the future and if it could be like this. It felt right with Rylee. She was the woman I wanted in my life. I gave her a kiss on the head before I put the steaks on a plate and walked with her to the picnic table.

We ate and talked and laughed and I enjoyed the day even more. We brought all the things inside and sat on the porch with a beer. The sun was getting down and turned the sky into a range of colors. I heard the distant sound of the first fireworks and my body tensed. I would never like the sound of it because it reminded me too much of the war and all the fights. Rylee didn't have enhanced senses so she couldn't hear them but she immediately knew what was going on.

'Let's go inside. Another present is waiting.' She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. After New Years Eve I asked her how she knew that I didn't like the fireworks. She told me about her father and that he had PTSD from the war and he hated fireworks as well. She didn't ask me what happened back then because she knew that I couldn't really describe the feeling of the war. We walked over to the sofa and there was already another present on the coffee table.

'How many presents do you have for me?' I felt a little bad that I never had anything for her birthday even though I just found out when it was. I would keep my promise and spoil her every other day.

'That's the last one.'

I grabbed it and inside the gift bag I pulled out a new set of drawing pencils and I knew they were expensive. My old ones were nearly used and I was already thinking about getting new ones. There was also a new sketchbook. The presents got better and better through the day and this one was just perfect. This woman was perfect.

'It's perfect. Thank you' I gave her a deep and passionate kiss. 'But I think you promised me something more.' Her pupils enlarged and I chuckled. 'Not that. I still want to see these yearbooks of you'

She started to laugh and I knew she never wanted me to see them. I showed her the picture of me with the sunburn earlier so she stood up and got them.

'This will be so embarrassing.' She gave me the first one and I started to look through it. She looked cute but different. Especially when I found one picture with blonde hair. She stood next to a few other girls. All with similar blonde hair and all in cheerleader outfits. When she told me that she was a cheerleader back in highschool I couldn't really believe it. She didn't seem like the girl who would cheer for the football team and also dated one of the football players.