Chapter One

Jane knocked on the door to Thor's apartment and when she heard him approaching she smiled big and bright in anticipation. The door opened and when she saw who it was, her smile fell.

"Oh, it's you," she heard herself say.

Loki, Thor's annoying brother, just smirked. His green eyes sparkled with some kind of mischief – as they always seemed to. He was wearing his customary black pants with a green t-shirt that clung to his form. Though Jane couldn't stand Loki and hated everything he stood for, she could appreciate that he had a nice physique.

And then Thor walked in the kitchen without a shirt, and all Jane could think was 'asjadklfmgh'.

"Be nice, Loki," Thor said and Jane realized that Loki had insulted her – big surprise – and she' d missed it while drooling over Thor and his fucking amazing body. He should always be shirtless, Jane thought. No, scratch that. He should always be shirtless around me. The last thing she needed was even more competition than she already had.

Did she care enough to find out what Loki had said? She sighed. Unfortunately, yes, she did. There were only a handful of things Jane really cared about in life: her work as an astrophysicist, ogling Thor, mini-marshmallows, and putting Loki Odinson in his place. Was it sad that putting Loki in his place had made the list? Yes. It was. But Jane had never had a very high tolerance for pretentious, arrogant jackasses and Loki was the king of all pretentious, arrogant jackasses.

He had to be defeated.

"What now?" Jane asked on a sigh and looked at Loki, one hand on her hip.

Loki smirked – he was always smirking – and pointed at her. "The hoodie, love."

"Don't call me that," she said automatically. Jesus, how many times did she have to tell him that?

"Do you have stock in all things sweats?"

"Do you know any other colors outside of black and green?" she retorted.

He shrugged. "I go with what works."

"So do I."

He looked at her pityingly and shook his head. "Sweats never work, Jane. Never."

"Seriously, it's like you beg me to punch you in the face," Jane said, feeling her face grow hot from anger.

"Kind of like waving a red flag in front of a bull?" Loki grinned. "Not my fault if you make it easy."

Yep. Today was going to be the day she finally did it. She took a step toward him and Thor hurriedly darted in front of her, gripping her arms. "Jane, forget him. You know he likes to get you going. If you'd just ignore him he'd leave you alone."

"That's debatable," Loki said and popped what looked like a cherry tomato in his mouth.

Jane heaved a deep breath and counted to ten.

"Better?" Thor asked.

She nodded and he released her.

"Loki, why don't you go in the other room or something?" Thor suggested.

"Why do I always get banished?"

"Because you're usually the one being rude to Jane," Thor replied.

Loki shrugged and nodded, seeming to accept that, and grabbed a handful of cherry tomatoes off the vegetable platter on the counter. Jane pointed at it as Loki left the room. "What's going on? Are you having more people over?"

Thor nodded. "Fandral, Sif – did you want to invite Darcy over?"

Jane tried not to show the disappointment that coursed through her. She had been hoping that tonight it would just be her and Thor. Sure Loki was there, but he was always there. He never left. Even when he should. Although sometimes he was good about leaving her and Thor alone. Mostly when Thor made him.

Jane dug into her hoodie pocket for her phone. If Sif was coming over then she was definitely going to need Darcy. Jane had the funny feeling Sif hated her. She also had the not-so-funny feeling that Sif hated her because Sif wanted Thor, too. Then again – what red-blooded female didn't want Thor?

However, aloof and bitchy Sif seemed better suited for aloof and bitchy Loki. They genuinely seemed to get along and like each other so why didn't they make a go of it? They could go away and judge people harshly together, leaving her and Thor alone.

"Yeah, I'll give Darcy a call," Jane said as she unloaded her purse on a nearby kitchen chair. She noticed a bowl of chips and some kind of dip was on it. When had the party idea struck, and why hadn't he told her when he'd asked her to bring over a few movies?

She pulled out the movies in question: Seven and the original Night of the Living Dead. It was the one vice usually quite logical Jane allowed herself: horror movies. She could suspend reality, plot holes, and in the case of some horror movies, physics and enjoy a good thriller.

"Excellent choices," Thor said with a smile. "What do you want on your pizza?"

"Um, just cheese…and pineapple."

"Funny. That's how Sif likes her pizza, too."

Okay, so that made at least two things she and Sif had in common. Jane ventured into the living room down the hall and then out to the balcony to call Darcy. Her best friend was hopefully not busy. A whole night with Thor's friends and having to compete with sultry Sif for Thor's attention.

"Fucking shoot me," Jane muttered as she scrolled through recent calls to Darcy's number.

"Hello!"

Jane turned her head away from her phone and scrunched up her face in pain.

"Hello? Jane?"

Jane put her phone back to her ear. "Holy eardrums, Batman. I think I just lost mine."

"Sorry. I'm at the Watering Hole and it's loud. Some dumbass college girls put 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' on a loop. So annoying."

"Right. And I'm sure that hasn't stopped you from joining in."

"Of course not. My shoes are in the middle of the dance floor with theirs. What's up?"

"Do you think you can break away from the all girls sing-a-long and hang out with me at Thor's?"

A beat. "Why?"

Jane sighed and looked up at the sky. She couldn't see the stars tonight. She looked down. The parking lot. What a view. It underwhelmed her every time. Although it was still better than her cramped apartment with no balcony at all.

"Because as it turns out it's not just going to be me and Thor. He's invited Fandral and Sif. I need backup, Darcy. I can't do Sif alone." She made a face. "Wait. That sounded weird. You know what I mean."

"I do. She's all…sultry and shit."

"Yes! Sultry Sif. That's what I call her in my head. And I'm…well, I'm me. Awkward and weird and totally not cool."

"That's not true. I think your collection of My Little Pony is totally cool."

"Darcy, you promised we'd never speak of that!"

Darcy just laughed. "All right. I got your back, home skillet. I'll be there in ten."

Jane clicked off her phone and turned to head back inside when she let out a scream at the sight of Loki standing there with his head tilted to the side. "Sultry Sif?"

"For crying out loud, Loki! Lurk much?"

"I'm not lurking. I came out here to get some air. This is my apartment, too."

"Is it? Do you even pay rent?"

He shot her a withering glare. "As a matter of fact I sold some pieces and I was able to make rent and get groceries for me and Thor. That veggie platter? I did that."

"Great. Look, can you just pretend that you weren't eavesdropping—"

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I told you I came out here—"

"And you couldn't see me through the sliding glass door, I mean—"

"My every thought does not revolve around you Jane—"

"I never said it did."

They glared at each other.

"Just do me a solid for once and forget that you heard any of that," Jane said, as close to pleading Loki as she'd ever get.

"Forget 'Sultry Sif'?" he asked with a slow-spreading grin.

"I will pay you to forget all of that," she said.

"Will you also pay me to pretend I don't know just how bad you have it for my brother?"

Jane set her mouth in a firm line and looked at her nemesis.

Fuck.