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Colin couldn't stop the glare he kept throwing towards his youngest brother, sitting way too close to his best friend. Now in his early 20s, Gregory had all the Bridgerton charm and looks and had a sweet personality. What annoyed him was not how his brother grew up to be but how he was using all his assets to charm his Penelope. Colin knew Penelope had a soft spot for kindness, being deprived of it all her life growing up in the Featherington household. Colin knew Gregory had somewhat of a crush on Penelope; he would have heart eyes the moment the redhead entered the room. He would gravitate towards her shorter form, finding a way to have a hand on her every time opportunity arose. And Colin hated it. Not because he didn't like Penelope or Gregory, but because Gregory was acting like Colin did when Penelope was around. And Gregory being a tad bit bolder than Colin was, worried Colin.
Things between him and the curvy girl were already awkward. They had an almost decade long tension between them, always close friends, but also, always more than just close friends. And at this current point of being flirty but also close, while trying to stay at the friendship level, made it was impossible to take the step and become something more. Colin loved the closeness they shared. Colin loved being able to run to Penelope whenever. And that was exactly why he was also terrified of asking for more, with the risk of losing what he had right now. Gregory's persistence, attention and affection made everything worse. If Gregory took that step, and even if Penelope said no, he would become the older brother of the guy who asked her out. And Colin didn't want to be that, not now, not ever.
He watched Gregory glancing down Penelope's cleavage, both her shirt and her chest itself being too generous not to offer a view. And Gregory was as tall as Colin. And Colin knew exactly what he was seeing at this current moment, and he barely held the growl ripping from his chest. His self-loathing and thoughts of fratricide were interrupted by a pitiful chuckle.
"His is just a crush," he heard Eloise say from beside him, sipping on her iced coffee, "Pen is a gorgeous woman with a voluptuous shape; of course, he is interested. Yours, on the other hand, is getting tragic to watch at this point," she said, pushing her feet to rest on top of his thighs.
"Tell him to find some other gorgeous woman to droll over," Colin said, not tearing his eyes from the blush rising up Penelope's neck at something Gregory said, Gregory's icky hands brushing her ginger curls.
"Why would I?" Eloise asked, "Pen deserves the attention; you clearly are too terrified to give her."
"She is my best friend, El."
"No," she said, "She is my best friend. She is your somewhat of a girlfriend that you are having a flirting period that is marching towards a record. You already act like a couple, have movie nights, coffee dates, cuddles, both refuse to date other people. Just ask her out."
"What if she says no?"
"What if she says yes to Greg?" she asked, "They probably will date a couple of months the most, but what will happen after? They will remain friends. I doubt neither Pen nor Greg will hurt each other that bad and make things awkward. Do they have an attraction? Maybe. Are they in love? No. If they date or even just hook up, it will be just time spent well; nothing will change in their friendship. But what will it mean for you? What will it mean for your relationship with Pen?" she asked, waiting a bit for him to think about it, to understand what was happening, what was about to happen, "But, if you ask her out and if it will be you with Pen, it won't be just dating for a couple of months or just spending some time, will it Colin?"
***
Eloise's words haunted Colin the rest of the night; he barely slept at all. And after taking a shower and preparing for the day, he ran to the bakery and then to Penelope's house. His arms were full of sweet and savoury croissants, eclairs, millie feuille and cream cheese brioche. His mood was much better compared to yesterday; he was on his way to see his Penelope, his sunshine. However, his mood went sour the moment Penelope's door was open, and his brother was looking at him with a similar scowl he had on his face.
"Colin," he said, "What a surprise."
"I could say the same, Greggy," he said, using the nickname Gregory hated the most.
"Who is that, Greg?" he heard Penelope call, and Colin would let no one, especially his green brother stand between him and Penelope. So, he pushed him to enter Penelope's flat and made his way to her kitchen, hearing Gregory's steps following him. Penelope was in a red flowery dress, tight around her chest, flowing down her round torso, her pale, shapely legs bare from her midthigh. Her ruby locks were trapped in a messy bun on top of her pretty head, her feet bare, toenails coloured in red.
"Good morning, Pen," he said, dropping the bags on the counter, moving to hug her from behind, pressing his nose to her hair, inhaling the vanilla shampoo, "You look beautiful as always, love," he said, his hand firm on the curve of her hip, barely feeling her hipbone covered in lush flesh.
"Oh, Colin," she said, turning to face him, "I didn't know you were coming."
"Wanted to surprise you," he said, "but apparently, little Greggy beat me to it."
"That is alright, knowing you; you brought enough food to feed an army, so did Greg," she said, patting his chest. Colin thought how it would be just to lean in and press a kiss to her balm covered ones. If he would slide his hand behind her back, to pull her by her waist, to his chest, just to hold her there. But, they were separated by Gregory's little throat clearing.
And minutes later, Colin was sitting next to Penelope. The place he fought Gregory off, but it was worth it, especially when Penelope's arm would brush against his, her soft skin touching his tan one. He could smell the hints of her body wash in the air, his legs brushing hers when he adjusted. He could also feel Gregory's glare on him, which gave him another level of satisfaction. Colin had been in love with Penelope for god knows how long now, and he was not letting her go without a fight. He still needed to find the courage to take their friendship into something more, but, meanwhile, he was not going to let Gregory take his place just because he had hots for Penelope. She deserved someone to love and cherish her, not just give her a nice time for a few weeks.
"Will you be interested in a movie night tonight, Pen?" he asked, turning his full attention to her, looking deep into her azure eyes.
"Oh, that sounds great," she said, giving him a soft smile, and because she was Penelope, sweet, caring Penelope, she turned to his brother and asked, "would you like to join us, Greg? We don't need to wait until the evening. We can just do it now."
"That is a wonderful idea, Penny," Gregory said before Colin could even object, "I will help you clean the table, and Colin can order some snacks."
"Sure," Colin said, giving him the stink eye.
***
Penelope was seated between the two Bridgerton brothers, Colin sitting unusually close to her, his thigh pressed to hers. While Penelope always enjoyed Colin's closeness, she could not help but feel overwhelmed by his extreme closeness and Gregory's similar sitting. Upon Gregory's request, they were watching a horror movie, a genre Penelope did not do well with. At a particular jumpscare that made Penelope flinch, Gregory chuckled and took the opportunity to pull the shorter woman into his chest, putting an arm around her rounded shoulders. Penelope could feel the negative energy radiating from the older Bridgerton, but the comfort Gregory provided against the gruesome scene in front of them was too much needed. Gregory's warm hand brushed her back, rubbing down her spine.
Colin was a patient man; rather, he was a slow man when it came to acting on his feelings towards the redhead. But this, his icky little brother having his best friend, the woman he loved in his arms, was a breaking point. Enough was enough, and he would castrate Gregory with his bare hands if he needed. He clenched his jaw to release or hold in somewhat of the stress he was under. The lingering kiss Gregory pressed to Penelope's head was the last drop.
"That is enough; get your disgusting hands off of her!" he said, punching his shoulder, careful not to hit Penelope. Gregory gave a big "ow".
"Colin," Penelope gasped, turning to face the older Bridgerton brother, her hand resting on where Gregory was hit, rubbing his arm gently to ease the pain, "What has gotten into you?"
"You are leaving," Colin said, glaring at his brother, who had a weird glint in his eyes that Colin could not really place. He was onto something, but Colin was too mad in his jealousy and fear of losing Penelope blinding him.
"Colin," Penelope said once more, her other hand holding his wrist, his pulse wild under her fingertips; she just wanted to calm both of the men down. She had seen Bridgerton fights before and both men almost a feet taller; she knew she was no match to separate any possible fight.
"We need to talk, Pen," Colin said, now turning to face her, his eyes soft and hopeful, "without that wanker here."
"He is your brother," Penelope said, both not noticing how usually loud Gregory was unusually quiet watching the pair with a victorious look on his face. Eloise would be proud and poorer 500 pounds if he played his cards right.
"And he is annoying me," Colin defended, "and I need to talk to you. It is important."
"Okay," she nodded; it was Colin, of course, she agreed, "Greg," she said, turning to face him, "maybe we can continue it some other time?" she asked, giving him an apologetic smile and squeezing his hand. Gregory nodded and bid his farewell, kissing Penelope on the cheek and blowing a kiss towards his older brother. And received back a growl.
"What is happening, Col?" Penelope asked, turning fully to face the man next to her, her leg tucked under her butt. Colin was looking at her with a gentle look in his green eyes, an unrecognisable fragility laying behind his eyes. He was playing with his fingers, his hands itching to reach for hers, capture her tiny ones in his palms, keep them warm and get some comfort from her touch. He just wanted to hold her close instead of having this stressful speech, the risk of losing the best things ever happened to him. He took her all in, watching the gorgeous woman in front of him. Her eyes bright under the bright sun shining into the room. He shuffled closer, pressing his thigh to her knee, seeking comfort from her presence, her gentle skin.
"I love you," he blurted out, "I am in love with you, and I cannot stand the way Gregory is trying to steal you from me."
Penelope did not react for the next couple of minutes; her lips parted in a way that all Colin wanted to do was to press his to hers, her face round and shocked and angelic.
"Did I ruin everything?" he asked after waiting for a couple more seconds. His heart beating faster than ever. Penelope did not say anything; she did not need to say anything as Colin's question woke her up from her trance, and he jumped to press her lips to his. Colin's hands were quick to find their place around Penelope's waist; squeezing the bouncy flesh under his palms, he pulled her closer until her soft tummy was pressed against him, her soft tits were resting on his chest. He felt her smaller hands running up his chest to his neck. Finally, she wounded her arms around his neck, one hand running up to dip her fingers into his lush chestnut hair. The other hand finding its way down his T-shirt, fingers digging into his trapezius. Colin gave a soft moan into her mouth that she swallowed as run her tongue over his.
"You could never ruin anything," she whispered to his lips, eyes glued to them, lids half-closed. With a swift movement, Colin pushed her under himself, parting her legs to fit between them, support his weight not to crush the round curved tiny woman under him. Her dress rode up, giving him access to her bare creamy thigs, one of his hands quick to run itself over the soft, supple flesh, squeezing her inner thigs. Penelope hooked one of her legs around Colin's, pulling him closer, enjoying the kisses his lips were dropping all over her chest and neck. All she could do was to moan and slip her hands under his shirt, groping the warm flesh under it, caressing the lines of his muscles.
"I want you to be my girlfriend, Pen," he said, the moment they needed a breath, "I want to be with you, to love you, be loved by you."
"Oh, Colin," she murmured, bumping her nose to his, "I would want nothing more."
"One more thing?" he asked, rubbing the meat of her hips, trying to soften her to the request he was just about to beg for, "Don't ever let Gregory touch you?" he pleaded, which only made Penelope chuckle.
"He doesn't have a crush on me," she said, trying to make her now-boyfriend feel better, "You do realise that, right?"
"How could he not, Pen? You are fucking gorgeous," he said, taking her all in, "and look like any man's wet dream. You tend to forget that," he said, "Just because you don't find women like yourself on Instagram doesn't mean any man who is interested in the opposite sex would kill to spend a night with you, with those tits, that arse. Such a wet dream in such a short and voluptuous package," he said, barely hiding the lust lacing his voice, the woman under him becoming redder with every word, "So do we have a deal?"
"No," she giggled as he slipped to lay beside her, pulling her against her chest, "Colin," she said, cupping his cheek, enjoying the sharp jawbone under her touch, "He was riling you up."
"What do you mean?"
"He and Eloise had a bet going," she said, drawing shapes on his chest, "I overheard a couple of weeks ago."
"And you let them?" he asked, scandalised.
"Well, I wanted Eloise to lose," she said.
"For us to end up together?" hope is evident in his voice.
"Well," she said, "mostly because I wanted her to pay for betting about me secretly. And you, of course, are the plus."
***
"I don't believe you," Eloise said, looking at her younger brother, who had a proud smile on his face, "Colin doesn't have the balls or the brains to act this quickly."
"You are a sore loser; that is what you are," Gregory said as he entered the living room, where he left the couple last. His grin widened even more as he pulled Eloise into the room.
"See," he whispered, pointing to the couple cuddled on the couch. Colin's feet hanging off the arm of the couch, his arm tight around Penelope's round torso, her ruby head tucked into his neck, his nose buried in her hair. Penelope was curled in his chest, one arm around his middle, the other resting on his upper stomach; both their legs intervened, impossible to see where one ended, and the other started.
"I can't believe it took your annoying arse to make this happen," Eloise huffed, throwing an annoyed glare to the younger man next to him.
"I accept cash," was the only thing Gregory said as he chuckled and pushed her out of Penelope's flat to give the new couple a bit of a privacy.