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"𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆, 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉,"
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warnings: it's a teeny bit spicy
^ if you don't know what I mean by spicy don't read this
chapter six: 1370 words
I COULDN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT her. Thoughts of her lips, her laugh, the way she flipped the pages in her novel invaded my mind every chance it could. I could barely be in the same room as her without stuttering over my words or turning red in the face.
I spent my days fearing that she would confront me because I didn't know what I would say if she did. There were too many things to say, too much to discuss. I didn't even know where to start. I didn't know if she felt the same heartwarming, mind consuming emotions I did.
But every time we were apart, I missed her. This part caught me entirely by surprise. I would catch myself walking around looking for her, not for any particular reason.
I had heard others discuss that liking someone like this felt like fire, a burning sensation, but with Eloise, it felt like home.
This wonderful feeling flooded my senses and made the three days after my debut feels like bliss. It was a feeling I had never experienced before, but a good feeling. This stopped the moment we stepped into our first ball. Nearly all the men were looking at Eloise Bridgerton, of course, she deserved to be admired, but I couldn't stop the fury and jealousy that invaded my heart.
"Miss Bridgerton, may I join you in your first dance of the night?" a man I recognized as Lord Sorrenson asked Eloise, offering his hand and smiling slyly at her.
"No," Eloise stated, then receiving an elbow from Daphne who was standing beside her corrected herself, "Apologises sir but I'd prefer not to dance with you,"
I looked at Benedict and Colin who were trying their best to not burst out laughing and felt my heart thump in my chest. Lord Sorrenson stumbled away like an injured puppy.
"The audacity some men have," Eloise scoffed in my ear and when I made no move to agree with her, she turned to look at me, "Are you okay? You didn't think I was going to say yes, did you?"
"I thought for a moment you might," was my honest reply, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.
"And leave you here," her grey eyes shone, "never,"
The remainder of the evening continued like this. Every once in a while, a gentleman would approach us and try to engage us in conversation with him, and failing miserably. Few asked us to dance with them, but none succeeded on that front either.
Eloise and I ended up placing bets on how many young ladies Anthony would give his attention too. The loser would have to do something at the request of the other. Eloise believed that her brother would show interest in three young ladies, while I thought four.
"You have high hopes for my brother," Eloise wheezed between laughs.
She ended up winning and decided she wanted to hold on to her request, taunting me the whole carriage ride home with ridiculous things she had in mind.
Now I was back in my room, dressed in my nightgown, my hair brushed and free from the dreaded bun it had been in for the entire evening.
Butterflies incased my stomach as I thought back to the words Eloise had said in the carriage and the look on her face.
"Perhaps I shall request that you swim down the river by the modiste," I had rolled my eyes at her, that wasn't too bad, but she lowered her voice and put her lips next to my ear, "naked,"
This lead to nearly falling off the seat in the carriage. The thought of Eloise Bridgerton seeing me naked, now that was something that made my toes tingle.
That tingling sensation was back now, at the pit of my stomach. It felt like an itch I needed to scratch, how though I had no clue.
Well, maybe if I imagined her in my room, one leg on either side of my hips, her hair draped down in my face. Her, smiling down at me before leaning in and kissing me. It was a butterfly kiss, like a hello, not what I needed at that moment. The smirk on her face told me she knew that but was enjoying torturing me.
Nope, that made the feeling more intense. Now it felt less like an itch and more like something I needed, like something I-
A knock at the door nearly made me jump out of my skin. The focus of my wicked thoughts poked her head in the room, smiling ear to ear.
"Are you busy right now?" was her question and god almighty it took all of my strength to not tell her how much I wanted no needed her at that moment.
"Uh, not necessarily," I swallowed, trying to contain the wicked feelings that were consuming me.
"Perfect," she ushered me to follow her out of my room, which I did reluctantly. Her hair smelt like strawberries, and as it swayed back and forth in front of me made me dizzy.
I followed her downstairs, into the kitchen and out the back door. We walked a couple of hundred feet before reaching the swingset that sat between the two massive trees at the end of the Bridgerton lot. The cool summer breeze hit my ankles and twisted up the rest of my body until I shivered.
"El it's freezing out here," I said, rubbing my arms dramatically. She turned and took a seat on one of the swings, raising her eyebrows at me.
"Here, this will warm you up," she motioned for me to sit on the swing beside her, and as I did she pulled out a cigarette.
"Hol- where did you get that," the shock on my face was real.
Of course, she smoked.
"This?" she smiled at me wickedly, "well I've been carrying it the whole time, I'm surprised you didn't notice," I could only gape at her as she reached into the side of the tree to retrieve a match.
"I- how did you even know I smoked?"
"I overheard Simon talking to Benjamen about it," she held the cigarette between her lips, struck the match and lit it. I was going to comment on her eavesdropping skills but stopped.
I had watched boys in the village smoke at least a dozen times, but the way Eloise Bridgerton held the cigarette against her lips made it look like an art. Inhaling the same manner, I had seen ladies smell flowers when they were trying to seduce a man. Eyes closed, chest rising slowly, exposing enough skin to arouse the thoughts of a gentleman. The way she tilted her head up and let the smoke escape from between her lips. Exhaling like it was the last breath she would ever let go, not with fear of dying, but with confidence and acceptance of what was next.
She noticed me staring at her, and offered me the joint. I took it trying to ignore the part of me that was screaming about how the joint that was touching my lips had previously touched hers and it was basically an indirect kiss.
"I'm going to laugh and inhale ash if you keep looking at me like that," she had turned her hips on the swing and was now facing me, a playful look on her face. In response to my comment, she pursed her lips and slowly moved her eyes away from me.
"I just wanted to make sure you were doing it right," she looked back at me as I exhaled the smoke and glanced from my eyes to my lips.
I would like to say from experience: girls who smoke are SO HOT.
anyways