Heaven Sent (Loki/Asgard Fanfiction - Aislinn's Story)

Chapter Sixty-Three

Tracy was curled on the sofa in a pair of gray sweatpants that were Steve's and his cardinal and gold Falcons hoodie, her feet tucked under her, a bottle of Sam Adams in one hand and her head resting on her other fist. "Men suck, Steve. You know that?"

"We don't all suck," he said, setting his own bottle down. It was nearly midnight. Aislinn had bid them both goodnight almost two hours ago, after giving Tracy a hug and assuring her it was no imposition having her there.

"No. You and Chris and Tony are the last of the good guys." She lifted the bottle to her lips for a pull, then lowered it to gesture at him. "And if I find out any one of you is screwing around, I'll castrate you myself."

"Don't worry. I can't speak for either of them, but I'm no idiot. I know when I've got a good woman and—"

"That's right, you do and I'm damn glad you married her, Steve. It's about time you settled down. Christ, we were beginning to wonder about that. And thank God it wasn't with Jenna because she was just so fucking uptight about everything. Aislinn's cool."

He smiled. It wasn't often Tracy got drunk, but he figured tonight was one night when it was okay for her to drink as much as she wanted. "I'm glad to hear it."

"She's cool and I like her." Tracy tipped back the bottle and then leaned forward to set it on the table. "And you guys are buying a house! That's awesome, you know." She reached over to slap him lightly in the chest. "You know my friend Angela?"

"Parisi?"

"That's the one." She jabbed her index finger in his direction. "She's been after me for months to set you up with her. I can't wait to see the look on her face when I tell her you're married. She's fantasized about you for years, you know."

"I didn't know."

"Come on, Stevie. Every one of my girl friends did. You were my hot older brother. Tony was the twig and everyone thought Chris was a jerk. But you... oh, holy fuck, they used to pester the shit out of me about you. Does Steve have a girlfriend, Trace? Can't you please just fix me up with Steve? Just once? Do you know what it's like, hearing your friends wonder about what your brother looks like naked?"

He wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that. "What did you tell them?"

"I told them you were built like a Greek god, of course." She rolled her eyes. "What do you think I told them? I told them to go the fuck away and leave me alone about it. But, Aislinn's good for you. You seem so happy with her."

"I am happy, Trace. Ash is the best thing that ever happened to me." Without thinking, he ran his thumb along the base of his ring finger, over the warm platinum band he was still getting used to. "And I meant what I said before, if you want me and Tony and Chris to have a little talk with Dave, just say the word."

Her eyes lowered. "I still can't believe this is happening, Steve," she murmured, leaning back against the sofa cushion. "I mean, we had our problems, but to catch him... catch him fucking someone else... God..."

She brought her hands up to cover her eyes, a low sigh rising to her lips. "I never thought something like this would happen. Not with Dave. Never with Dave. I thought he was one of the good ones."

Her breath hitched and her shoulders trembled and without a word, Steve caught her by one forearm and gently wrapped her in a hug. "I know, Tracy. And man, I don't know what to say, except he's a fucking idiot."

"And I h-have no—no idea how l-long it's been going on," she whispered between sobs. "And what if he didn't always use a condom? Christ, now I ha-have to worry th-that he might have in-infected me with something."