CHASING GHOSTS | BUCKY BARNES

14

She made her way into the kitchen, her gaze landing on Bucky. "Hey."

Bucky looked at her once before his gaze fell to the book again, his cheeks still pink. "Hi, uh, I'm sorry about..."

"It's fine," she chuckled, grabbing some slices of bread and placing them in the toaster. "You caught me just in time. Where is everyone?"

"Oh, Taj and Sam are playing video games." Bucky grabbed a cup from the sink and poured her some coffee, and she took note at how he knew how she liked it, even the cinnamon and hint of vanilla. Wow. "Fong's reading by the pool while Steve's in the training room downstairs... Kaia and Dante-"

"Yeah, I know what those two are doing," she drawled, and Bucky almost dropped the bowl of strawberries he'd pulled out from the fridge. "I didn't mean that. Jesus, they're just talking. That's it."

Bucky seemed about ready to change the subject. "Right, and Emilia and Natasha, I don't know."

"Emilia and Natasha? Together? That can't be good."

"Y-Yeah," he laughed, eyes crinkling as he did so, and he handed her the jar of Nutella from the cupboard. Their fingers brushed, and they lingered there for a second before he pulled back. Their gazes endured until she broke it, an indescribable feeling forming in her gut as she did so.

What just happened?

Nadine decided to concentrate on her breakfast instead. "Anyway..."

"Oh, right," he muttered, as if now remembering he had something to tell her. "I, uh, I wanted to take Steve sightseeing over Maricota."

"What about Sam?"

Bucky gave her an amused look. "What about Sam?"

"Hey!" Sam barked from afar, clearly irritated. "I heard that!"

Nadine chose to ignore his outburst and took a sip of her coffee, which was really good. "That sounds nice."

"Yeah," he agreed, chewing on the inside of his cheek as his gaze nervously flittered around the kitchen. "I was hoping, maybe, you'd want to come..."

"Oh?" she asked, a bit surprised by the invitation, and tried to ignore how she felt the urge to smile because of it.

"So you invite her and not me?! Well fuck you, Barnes!"

"You don't have to do it," Bucky added quickly. "I just figured it'd, uh, be better if we didn't get lost here."

So, he only wanted a tour guide?

Nadine forced her disappointment down her throat while she ate her breakfast. "I'd love to, but I can't. The Triad's in Madeira, and I wanna check out what the hell they're doing so close."

"Oh," he replied, and she swore he seemed downcast at her answer. "Okay. When do we leave?"

"Leave where?" Steve asked as he made his way into the kitchen, draping a towel over his neck. His dirty blonde hair was damp in sweat, just like his tight shirt. She didn't think his physique could look any more intimidating, but clearly she was wrong. Despite the tough-ish look, though, he gave her a kind, soft smile. "You're looking better."