The Grey Raven // Bucky X Oc (Discontinued For Now)

⠂Chapter 35⠐ |Bucky|

It’s about twenty minutes after the party has started and Romanoff comes barreling out of the crowd and pins Steve with her gaze.

She hurries over. “What’s up?” Steve asks.

I step up next to him, my curiosity taking hold. “Astrid’s ears,” Romanoff says swiftly, glancing at me.

I almost take a step in the direction of the entrance before stopping myself. Steve instantly takes off with Romanoff close behind him. Don’t be stupid, James.

I shake my thoughts away and turn back to pretending to pay attention to a story Sam is telling a small group.

One of the women keeps eyeing me and I glance at her and catch her gaze, holding it until, flustered, she looks away, her cheeks pink. Hm… She’s one of those. All right.

I glance around before I step up next to her. “Hello, beautiful. Care for a drink?” I ask, looking down at her from the corner of my eyes.

She gets even further flustered and won’t even meet my gaze. “That would be nice,” she says, almost too quiet to hear over the music.

I offer her one of my gloved hands, which she takes, and lead her over to the bar. “What do you want?” I ask, getting a bartender’s attention.

“Martini,” she says. Typical.

The bartender nods and starts on the drink. “Do you want anything?” he asks, looking at me.

“Uh… an Old Fashioned,” I say.

“Of course,” the bartender says, handing the girl her Martini.

“So, can I get your name or do you want me to continue calling you, beautiful?” I ask, turning to her.

Her cheeks flush again and she looks down, taking a sip of her drink. I notice she doesn’t actually drink very much of it. “Grace,” she says shyly.

My drink is placed in front of me and I give the bartender a nod before picking it up. “Shall we?” I ask, offering her my arm. She loops hers with mine and sticks close to me as I swiftly make my way through the crowd of people back to where Sam is.

“I should probably get back to my friends,” Grace murmurs, glancing around.

“Do you need any help finding them?” I ask.

“Oh, no. Thank you though.” She turns to leave but pauses and turns back around. “It was nice meeting you… I didn’t catch your name!”

“James,” I tell her, smiling slightly.

She smiles as well, a dimple appearing on her right cheek. “Nice meeting you James,” she says before disappearing into the crowd.

I stare after her for a moment before rolling my eyes and turning to stand beside Sam. “Got a new girlfriend?” he asks smugly, nudging me.

I give him a deadpan stare for a few seconds. “No,” I say bluntly, sipping my drink.

“You should’ve gotten her number. I’m sure she would’ve been more than happy to give it to you,” Sam says, smirking at me.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I respond, shaking my head.

“I saw the way she was looking at you man.”

“What are you two gossiping about?” Sam and I turn to find Romanoff, a hand on her hip. I’m tempted to ask about Astrid but decide against it.

“Gossiping? Us?” Sam exclaims exasperatedly.

“I’m sure you are,” she says before walking away.

Would I have wanted her number?

“Oh. Is that Astrid?” Sam says, looking into the crowd.

My body tenses and I follow his eyes and find an overly familiar head full of dark red hair. “I’ll see you in a bit,” I say swiftly, disappearing into the crowd before he can say anything.

I easily shift through the crowd until I reach the windows looking out on the patio. I pause a moment, glancing behind me, before opening one of the doors and stepping outside.

The door closes behind me and the music quiets slightly, the space now filled with conversation from the many different groups standing and sitting around fire pits spaced around.

I let out a slow breath, which comes out as a small cloud, and walk to the edge of the patio, staring out at the dark, frozen landscape. One of my fingers taps nervously against my glass and I take a sip of my drink trying to steady it.

Someone steps next to me and I tense slightly until I see that it’s Grace, who glances behind her. “What are you doing out here?” she asks, her voice soft.

“I just needed a break from the noise,” I say, which is only part of the truth. I hear a small group of girls giggle and assume that her friends pressured her into talking to me. “Are you enjoying the party?” I ask, keeping the conversation up.

“Oh, yes. It’s great,” she says, her voice a bit shaky.

I glance at her and find her arms wrapped around her middle and shivering a bit. “Let’s get closer to one of the fire pits,” I offer, turning to her.

She looks at me but looks away just as quickly, flustered again. She walks beside me as I go over to one of the fire pits that only has two people sitting in front of it. I sit down across from them and Grace sits next to me, scooting a bit closer.

I drape an arm behind her on the couch and take a sip of my drink, staring at the flames. “Do you live in New York?” she asks quietly, glancing to her right.

“Yeah. Do you?” I ask, glancing at her.

“No. I’m visiting my sister,” she responds.

“Does your sister know Stark?” I ask, curious about how she got invited.

She chuckles a bit nervously. “She wishes. No. One of her close friends does and I got dragged along,” she replies. “How about you?”

I don’t respond for a moment, still watching the fire. “I guess you can say I know him. One of my friends knows him a bit more than I do,” I say, beating around the bush.

“Oh,” she murmurs, also watching the fire.