Avengers The Captain's Secret

Part 7: Repast

CAP POV

We walked the entire ship.

It was nice to see Evie laugh. She had a really nice smile, and her eyes were bright.

"So the riding lesson went totally backwards!" I laughed with her. "He actually fell into a river?"

"Yeah," Evie giggled. "I was a natural riding a horse, but poor Uncle Phil, he wasn't. I still don't know how he went over the bridge and into the water. In the end I had to tell him what to do, how to do it, and get us all back to the stables!"

"Sounds like you guys had some good times," I smiled.

"Yeah," she smiled too, but a bit sadly. "I hated it when he was on missions. I mean, I missed him, but I knew he was doing really important work." She was quiet for a moment. "Have you ever ridden a horse?"

"Not for enjoyment," I chuckled. "But I love steel horses."

"Steel horses," She repeated, her nose wrinkling a little. Her eyes narrowed for a moment and then her face broke into another smile. "Motorcycles!"

"Yes!"

"That's right, you have one!" She was quiet for a moment. "Harley Davidson, right?"

"Custom and American, yes."

"Dad--" She gasped. "I mean--Uncle Phil--"

"So you did call him Dad."

She took a deep breath. "Yes. Only in private. He was afraid Uncle Nick wouldn't like it."

"'Cause you never thought of him as an Uncle?" I gave a small smile.

She gave a sheepish smile and laughed softly. "Yes."

"So you never rode a motorcycle?"

"He never let me ride one."

"They're perfectly safe, you know," I told her. "You have to realize, motorcycles are not dangerous unless the driver is." I stopped walking and turned to her. "When we get back, you wanna go for a ride?" I watched her face brighten, and was glad I offered.

"Really? You'd take me?" She turned to face me and put her hand on my shoulder, like she was pleading with me to. She also looked...kissable, but I pushed the thought away. I watched her eyes widen, realizing she was in personal space. She was embarrassed, suddenly shy. She came back down on the heels of her feet, but her hand was on my bicep now. Her eyes flared as I flexed, and I couldn't help but laugh. She did too.

I gently grasped her upper arms, and took note that she had small but firm muscles herself. "I don't see why not. I'm a very good driver."

I could see her cheeks coloring a little. "Something to look forward to." Her voice was soft, almost breathless.

"Yeah, me, too." I meant it. We both seemed like people who didn't have enough fun.

I walked her to her door.

"Thank you for everything, today." She sounded breathless again.

"My pleasure." It really was.

"I'm not sleepy!"

"Me either." I couldn't believe where my mind was going. I just didn't want to leave her just now.

"I got a deck of cards?" She offered. "It would be nice to not play solitaire."

"You're on."

We played a bunch of games, some I'd played before, some she taught me. She put on music by someone called Billy Joel. I'd heard of him-he was a kid from the Bronx-not far from where I came from, kind of like me, and I liked his stuff. I really enjoyed it, especially her swaying and softly singing along. For some reason I got kind of distracted when a song called Always A Woman to Me came on.

"Too bad there's no junk food," she sighed. "I mean, cards and junk food go together. Sometimes Dad and I played for cookies." She smiled at the memory. That was a good sign.

"Oh, there's junk food," I winked at her, making her giggle. "you just have to know where to get it."

Her look turned mischievous as she lightly bit her bottom lip. "Do you know where to get it, Steve?"

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe."

"That sounds like a mission," she said excitedly, her voice a conspiring whisper, her eyes brightening.

"Ditto," I nodded. "Tell you what. I'll pick you up in ten. Change into sweats, okay?"