Locked, Loaded, Loved ✔️ COMPLETE | UNDER EDITS

Chapter 8--Natasha | EDITED

After a few rounds into the game, and many more drinks, everyone was feeling pretty reckless and loose. Except for me and Steve.

In fact, the super soldier who I'd begun to grow increasingly close with looked like he'd much rather be anywhere but here. Especially with all of the loopholes that Tony was getting us into.

Despite my request, which he knew better than to ignore, Tony had come up with some pretty crazy dares that had me reaching for anything I could get my hands on as a weapon.

Tony really seemed like he had something he was trying to prove, getting me and Steve to kiss in front of the group. The only other problem was that Steve and I seemed to be on completely different pages this time.

"Next round, everyone! Get a refill on your drinks because this one is going to be the best," Tony said.

"You having fun?" I asked Steve when we had a moment.

He shrugged. "It's not as fun when you can't get drunk."

I smiled. "Here, come with me." I stood up and motioned for him to follow me into the kitchen.

"What are we doing?" Steve asked.

I pressed a panel on the wall and a set of buttons appeared. I fiddled with them for a second and then turned to him.

"We haven't had a moment alone all evening," she said. "And we need to talk about this fake-out plan."

"Oh." Steve stepped back, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head. "I thought you were cool with it?"

"I am. But we need to go over ground rules, especially because we're...well—"

"Unofficially dating?" Steve supplied.

"Something like that, I guess. Whatever we are, we can't let that get in the way of the mission."

He nodded. "I know that."

I narrowed my eyes at him. This was serious, and he needed to know this was not a time to say that he understood when he didn't. Steve was the type of guy who fell hard and fast—I'd seen it firsthand—so I needed to know I could trust him to put the mission first, something I knew he'd battled with in the past. "You can't let your personal feelings for me affect the mission."

"Isn't it my role to play the boyfriend?"

"Yes, but if we get caught or if anything goes wrong, you have to treat me like your teammate, not your girlfriend, ok?" I scanned my gaze over his face. "The mission, Rogers, is always more important."

Steve nodded. "Got it. Anything else?"

"Yeah. How convincing is this?" I pulled myself up to his level and kissed him. I couldn't help myself; he was right there and all mine for the taking. As long as we were careful about it.

A few seconds later, we pulled away from each other.

"Pretty convincing," Steve said. "Although I'm pretty sure I'm biased."

I smiled. "Good. Now we can go back to the game." I left Steve in the kitchen as quickly as I could, catching a glance of myself in the stainless steel refrigerator. Hopefully I was pulled together enough that I could go back in and convince the team that everything was normal. Because now all I was going to think about was that kiss.

***

The game escalated pretty quickly after we returned to the living room. Although, having to wear Steve's shirt as part of a dare was one thing, whereas doing body shots crossed the line. In the presence of the team, I hoped we could easily fool everyone—especially if Tony wanted to continue enforcing the "no inter-team dating" rule.