The Sharpest Lies [Bucky x ReaderxSteve]

Thirty-five

Bucky stands above the crowd at his club, leaning on the railing and watching as he sometimes does. The club is doing better than he ever hoped possible, and that pleases him immensely. Not as much as having you does of course, but it's pretty high up there. And speaking of you—

His eyes track over the crowds until he finds you, on the dance floor with your friend. He was a little surprised when you insisted on coming out with him tonight. Figuring you'd be too tired but you shot that concern down and said that just because you were pregnant doesn't mean you'd let it stop you doing the things you enjoy. And dancing was a favorite of yours.

"You want me to go down there?" Steve, who is leaning on the railing next to him, asks.

"No, she's safe enough," Bucky says. It was true, here more than anywhere but perhaps at Stark Tower, you are safe. The club is Bucky's domain, everyone knows this. And everyone knows who it is you belong to. If someone did something to you while in his domain, they would be signing their own death warrant.

"I want to talk to you actually," Bucky says after a while, looking away from you to see Steve is watching you.

"What about?"

"Why do you want her to believe that what's between the two of you is something casual?"

Steve blinks and finally tears his eyes away from you. Bucky's watching him critically, his hands on his pocket and eyes intense. Sliding his hands into his own pockets, he runs his fingers over the bottle opener you'd gifted him when he took you to Coney Island. "Because it is easier."

"For you? Why?"

Steve shakes his head, turning to look back over the crowd, seeking you out again and nodding in your direction. "No. For her and for you."

"You're gonna have to explain," Bucky says as his eyes narrow while he studies Steve's profile.

Steve sighs heavily, hands dangling over the railing. "Do you honestly think if it was general knowledge that you were sharing your woman with another man that it wouldn't complicate things?"

He looked over when Bucky said nothing. "Whether you want to accept it or not, the world, especially the part we exist in, is still too small minded to openly accept something like that. Especially from men like us. I won't be the reason that something happens to you or to her just because I feel what I feel about her. It's easier for me to protect the both of you by maintaining at least some distance."

Bucky was a little surprised at the fierciness of Steve's expression. After a moment, Bucky tapped his fingers on the railing and says, "Okay, I see where you're coming from. I don't agree with it though."

"Yeah, well no surprise there," Steve mutters.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Because ever since you met her, your heart rules everything to do with her. You're thinking with that instead of thinking with your head."

"So, you're really willing to what? Let her go completely? Return back to what you were before."

"Hell no," Steve says with a hard shake of his head. "There's no way I could resist her if she wants to sleep with me. I just think it might be best if she doesn't think of me as her boyfriend."

Bucky hums, and seeks you out in the crowd once more. "I'm not sure that cat can be shoved back into the bag, Steve. She loves you."

That took Steve by surprise Bucky thinks absently as his best friend sputtered incoherently for several seconds. Finally, he coughs out, "What? Did she tell you that?"