Into the Ring

Chapter Eight-Potential

It's slow waking up in the morning, but it's half bliss, half dread. Waking up with Peter's mind and body still wrapped around me is a sensation I'll never tire of, but there are still things we have to do today. We both know we're both awake, so Peter takes advantage of this by pressing sweet kisses all over my face until I'm laughing and shoving him off. I slip out of bed and shove him back on it as I look for clothes. He sighs happily, "I really missed this." I smirk over at him as I wiggle into my exercise pants.

"Me dancing into my pants? You really need a hobby." I tease and relish how easy this is. Me and him. He shakes his head and sits up on the bed, messy hair even more messy from sleep.

"Meant seeing you in the morning. But you are really cute when you do that." He gets me to laugh and his face lights up at the sound. After my sports bra is on and my hair is up, I go back to the bed and lean on it with a knee.

"Know what I missed?" I ask and put a hand on his bare shoulder. He falls backward with a grin on his face. I press my lips to his in a quick peck. "This right here." I plant little kiss after kiss on his lips before he wraps his arms around me and tugs me into his lap so he's hovering above me. A small amount of laughter leaves us both before we're kissing again and soon we're both breathless. Suddenly, the door opens and our heads immediately swivel. "What the fuck have I said about knocking?" I snap immediately, shaking my head at Natasha's easy smirk.

"Time for a workout and not the kind you two were thinking of. Come on." She inclines her head and I sigh. I look up and smile again at the sight of Peter's red face.

"Sorry." I murmur and give him one last kiss before hopping up. My hand snatches the file before following Natasha out the door. The last thing we hear is Peter's last-minute apology before the door shuts. Silence flutters over the two of us as we head to the gym, but of course, it's only temporary.

"Seems you two fixed some things." She says and I glare over at her now wide smirk. "Were you two..." She spins her finger and my cheeks heat.

"Really don't need the safe sex talk again. Pretty sure I've gotten it down over the years. Besides, nothing happened last night." I tell her as we enter the gym.

"Just something that sometimes needs to be asked. Safety first." Natasha shrugs and my face gets even hotter when I see Steve and Bucky are here.

"We don't even know if that's a problem, Tasha." I remind her and her head instantly turns to face me. "Not that I'm concerned about that right now." I hurry to add in a hushed tone. She glances to the soldiers that are unwrapping their knuckles, no doubt to then walk over to us, then back to me.

"We could still test that, Jo." Natasha offers carefully. This is a sensitive topic for us both and with the presence of Steve and Bucky makes this doubly weird. My head shakes.

"What's goin on?" Bucky asks first as both men finally arrive by our sides.

"Nothing. Where's Sam?" I answer and exit the group to stretch.

"The V.A. You sure about that?" Steve asks again, eyes seeing through my guise.

"She and Peter made up," Natasha tells them and huff at her only to receive a playful grin. "Come on, it's good news." My eyes scan hers another moment and I nod. The guys would never stop bugging me if they thought I was keeping something from them. This gives them something, but not the whole thing.

"If you're happy we're happy, Jo," Steve says a little cautiously. I smirk. Talking to Steve about boys has never really been a thing and it doesn't seem like that's about to change. Fun to tease him about it sometimes though.

"Explains the better mood." Bucky teases and everyone grins.

"I'm happy, Steve. Although I'm afraid I didn't get to read this." I gesture to the manila folder on the ground in front of me.