Penelope had never considered herself a jealous or possessive person. That was more Colin's area of expertise. Even when he was dating her cousin Marina, Penelope didn't allow her feelings for him to come to the surface. After watching him flirt and casually parade around several gorgeous women over the years, she knew that she never had a shot with him.
It wasn't until her freshmen year of college that she decided it was time to stop being the shy sad girl fawning over her best friend's brother and began dating other people. That was of course when Colin decided that he did not approve of any of the men she went out with. He wanted Penelope for himself. She was his, had always been his, and they both knew it.
So no, Penelope didn't used to be the jealous type. But that was before they started dating and before she met Colin's TA for his graduate level World History class. Her name was Cressida Cowper, and she was arguably the most attractive woman Penelope had ever seen. She was tall with perfect skin, teeth, and hair, perky tits and a tiny waist. She was exactly Colin's type. Worst of all, she was interesting. Cressida was smart, sexy, and had travelled to so many different places that Penelope could only dream of visiting. Of course she was intimidated by the woman. Who wouldn't be?
Colin had just returned from his class and was telling Penelope about what happened that day. Apparently Miss Legs For Days asked him to stay after class to 'help move some of these heavy books' as she was 'too tiny and frail'. Penelope grumbled, picturing those books falling on Cressida's head as her boyfriend recounted the woman's feedback on his most recent assignment.
"What is it baby?" Colin asked, pausing mid sentence.
Penelope shook her head, crossing her arms and settling back against her sofa. "Nothing," she mumbled.
Colin dragged his eyes up and down across her form, noticing her change in demeanor. Then that unbelievably sexy smirk of his crept onto his face. "Pen, baby...are you jealous?" He asked, all too joyfully.
She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Colin, what kind of question is that? Of course I'm jealous! You're gorgeous, incredibly sexy, smart, well travelled TA just gave you a perfect score and a winky face on an essay where you misspelled the word conquistadors. Twice."
"Ouch."
"Oh, Col," she said, taking his hand in hers as she expelled his long felt insecurities. "You know I think your writing is brilliant, and I'd still love you even if it wasn't," she continued, still intent on letting him know exactly what she thought of Cressida Cowper. "What I don't love is how this woman thinks she can flirt with my man all the time and get away with it."
"Penelope...y-you love me?" Colin stuttered.
"Oh." Her cheeks turned bright red and her lips parted in shock as she realized her accidental confession. "Yeah, I do," she admitted sheepishly.
Colin's face broke into a wide grin, and he abandoned her hand to wrap his own around the back of her neck. "I love you too," he whispered, their lips just inches from touching.
"What about Cressida?" Penelope challenged, her fears no longer hidden behind frustration.
"Who?" He asked, half teasing, half genuinely having forgotten that anyone existed besides her in that moment.
"Your hot leggy blonde TA," she reminded him with a small smile.
Colin pulled her tighter against him, nuzzling his nose against hers. "Mmm, I prefer short, feisty redheads with a great ass and tits the size of watermelons," he said, running his hands up and down her sides, his fingers ghosting past her breasts and landing on her bottom with a playful squeeze.
"Strange taste," Penelope mused, biting back a laugh at his description of her.
His eyes grew dark and his voice husky. "She tastes delicious actually," he whispered before crashing his lips to hers in a passionate heated kiss.
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After their 'talk', Penelope felt much better about the Cressida Cowper situation. So much so that when Colin went to his class the next day, she decided to pay him and Cressida a visit. She was quite glad she did considering the sight she walked in on. The woman was leaned over her desk, very obviously pushing her flat chest in Colin's face as she traced over his biceps with her manicured nails. Penelope groaned out loud, though neither heard her. So, she breezed across the room to them and made her presence known.
"Hi, babe!" She greeted him cheerily. Cressida had the sense to jump back and let Colin go.
"Pen!" Colin exclaimed, his face lighting up at the sight of her. She loved when he looked at her like that. "What are you doing here, baby?" He asked.
Penelope closed the space between them, wrapping her hands around his waist in a way that really drove the message home to Cressida. He's mine.
"I thought we could grab lunch together. I haven't eaten today, and you really worked up my appetite last night," she purred, just loud enough for Cressida to hear. Colin nearly choked on his own saliva, and she watched from the corner of her eye as Cressida did the same. It was exactly the reaction she hoped for from both of them. "Hungry?" She asked Colin, staring up at him with doe eyes.
Colin stared back at her, dazed. "Ravenous," he mumbled, his eyes drifting to her cleavage.
"Good," Penelope hummed before pulling him down for a long, perhaps too long, searing kiss, branding him in front of the other woman. Colin seemed to realize what she was doing but didn't care. Eventually, Penelope let him go, her lips still tingling deliciously. She turned to Cressida and giggled. "Sorry, got a little carried away. Young love and all that. Anyway, nice seeing you, Miss Cowper!" She yelled, making her way towards the exit, Colin following closely behind.
Once they were outside, he yanked her backwards for another embrace. "I don't know what that was," he said between kisses. "But I loved it," he growled, pressing his body tight against hers.
She smiled wickedly at him. "You're mine, Bridgerton."
Colin grinned back. "And you're mine, Featherington. Someday soon, I'll make that official," he promised before kissing her so hard, she almost forgot he ever said it.
