The Winter Cowboy || Bucky x Reader

Chapter 8

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The day of the dance. You busied yourself all day with helping the band set up on stage and finding enough outlets to power their insane amount of speakers and microphones. After the band had left, you found yourself feverishly rearranging chairs needlessly, deciding late in the afternoon that they needed to be on the other side of the barn. Staples wasn't helping by running around you for the entire afternoon, feeling quite amused by your constant bickering. You had almost tripped over Staples, twice.

"So- any chance you need some idiot to boss around?" you heard Bucky say as you were attempting to carry four chairs in one go. You looked up at Bucky, finding his brilliant blue eyes staring back at you. He wore a slightly foolish guilty smile on his face as he looked at you, his hands in the pockets of the jeans that hugged him in all the right places.

"That depends. Is he hairy and does he get in the way often? Because I've already got one of those," you asked smugly as you eyed Staples, glad to find some light had returned to Bucky's eyes. His smile grew at your comment, revealing the white of his teeth. He bit his bottom lip for a moment as he kept staring at you, still waiting for a serious response.

"Sure- help me move these," you said as you gestured to the sea of chairs that surrounded you. His lips formed into that lopsided grin you liked as he started stacking chairs and propping them up on his shoulder as if they weighed no more than a pile of laundry.

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As your family had been preparing and rushing all day, your father picked up some steak and fries from the nearby restaurant to have a quick meal in the barn. You groaned deeply as you took a bite of the well-seasoned steak. Bucky chuckled as he studied your facial expression.

"Food of the gods," you grinned unapologetically while you were still chewing.

"Bean! Don't talk with your mouth full!" You smirked at your mother as you unapologetically popped a fry into your mouth.

"So- how are you two lovebirds doing?" Harper asked with a satisfied smirk on her face, causing you to almost choke on your fry. It took you the shortest of moments to realize she was talking about the we're-dating-charade she had initiated when you and Bucky had run into Luke at the fair.

"Great, thanks to you," you replied, squinting your eyes at your sister. You had greatly appreciated your parents not bringing up the issue, but now there was no way of pretending it hadn't happened. In a small town like Lewistown, words spread faster than STDs. You found your mother blinking her eyes, unsure of how to deal with the situation. Your father's eyes were directed at Bucky who was uncomfortably chewing a single fry, very- very slowly.

"Margaret also asked me about it at the hairdresser yesterday you know," your mother added before wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Not much we can do about it now," your father finally grunted as he looked back down at his plate. You felt your lips curl up somewhat and quickly rolled them together to prevent yourself from smiling too broadly at your grumpy old man. Next to you, the other usually-grumpy old man smiled his chivalrous smile at your mother as Bucky thanked her for the food.

"Oh sergeant, I've picked out one of Carter's suit jackets for you. It might be a snug fit, but I am sure we'll manage," your mother smiled warmly back at him. The thought of Bucky slowly tying up a tightly-fitted suit jacket sent your nerves into overdrive and you very much looked forward to revelling in the sight of it.

"And if you want to shave I am sure I have some razors in the bathroom," your mother continued. Bucky's lips curled into a smirk as he looked towards you briefly, the beard you had told him to keep on his jaw. Your cheeks flushed at the way he looked at you, daring you to speak up.