Chapter Text
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Penelope swallowed upon hearing the words that she’d both longed for and dreaded in equal measure.
She’d been in love with Colin Bridgerton, her best friend’s older brother, for as long as she’d known him. While logically she knew that he’d be unlikely to ever return her feelings, Pen’s rebellious heart held out a tiny shred of hope that one day, maybe, she would be the one at the altar looking into his eyes as the minister said those words. But, instead, he had fallen in love with her cousin and was up there staring happily into her eyes as they were pronounced husband and wife.
Penelope closed her eyes and stifled a groan as Colin leaned in to kiss his bride, just as she did every time they kissed in her presence. She counted to five in her head and then opened her eyes. The happy couple had separated from their liplock and were now facing the crowd of guests with big smiles on their faces. Penelope darted her eyes to the left and right and confirmed that no one sitting near her had noticed her reaction. She let out the breath she’d been nervously holding and returned her attention to the wedding party only to find that Colin’s older brother Anthony was staring at her as his brother Benedict, Colin’s best man, congratulated their sibling with a hearty handshake and pat on the back. Penelope’s breath hitched in shock at the attention and she wondered if he’d seen her reaction to the kiss. When she leveled a stare right back at him in an attempt to gauge what he’d witnessed and he smirked back at her, Penelope knew he had.
Wonderful. Just wonderful.
The moment Penelope could, she bolted from her seat and made her way to the cocktail hour on the patio next to the garden where the ceremony had taken place. The wedding party, including a reluctant Eloise, who didn’t much like Marina but agreed to stand up for her at Colin’s request, were busy taking photographs, so Pen knew she’d have some time alone to compose herself before facing Colin at the reception. Pen knew that he’d be sure to take the time to seek her out today since she was the one who introduced them.
Pen took a sip of her champagne and laughed mirthlessly at that. When Marina had come to New York from Miami for a conference, she stayed with Pen and Eloise. Colin, who frequented their apartment, was instantly smitten. And, the rest, they say, is history. Of all the women he could fall in love with, why did it have to be her cousin? Pen could have handled some stranger who she could be nice to in proximity and then hate from afar. But she was related to Marina and considered them friends, so she could never hate her, shun her, or wish her ill.
Twenty minutes later, Pen was scrolling on her phone while nursing her second glass of champagne when she felt someone sidle up next to her. She didn’t pay them any mind because there were a ridiculously small amount of cocktail tables for the large number of guests. She already had successfully ignored her way through inane chatter with a bevy of distant Bridgerton relatives, business associates, and friends. However, when she saw a signet-ring adorned hand reach over and block her view of the screen, Pen was forced to look up - right into the eyes of Anthony Bridgerton - as he asked, “So, how long have you been in love with my brother?”
Pen was sure she had a deer-in-the- headlights look as she processed his question. She’d managed to hide her feelings for Colin successfully from all of his siblings for years, so being put on the spot to explain them to the absolute last person she expected was off-putting. Her shock, though, eventually gave way to anger. Who the hell was he to call her out on her feelings? They’d barely spoken two words to each other in all the years she’d been friends with Eloise. He didn’t know her. He certainly didn’t care about her. So, Pen figured turnabout's fair play and made a show of lifting her elbows off the table, straightening her body, and craning her neck around the crowd in search of the one woman she knew wasn’t there as she retorted with, “Where’s Sienna?”
Pen couldn’t miss the stricken look that crossed Anthony’s face at the question, but he covered it quickly. He then raised his whiskey in a mock toast and replied, “Touché, Miss Featherington.”
She took a deep breath, feeling guilty about prodding him over his very public breakup with the pop superstar, and replied, “Sorry. That was uncalled for.”
A corner of his mouth curved into a smile as he responded, “I suppose I deserved that for sticking my nose where it clearly doesn’t belong.”
Pen smiled. “If you promise to keep your nose out of my business, I will do the same.” Pen reached out her free hand to his and held it there, open. “Deal?”
He chuckled as he slid his hand into hers and shook it, “Deal,” he replied.