Chapter Text
“Should we be separating them?” Benedict asked, running a thumb over his poor attempt at a mustache. Henry knocked Benedict’s hand off it. “Quit doing that,” he muttered, “it makes it look greasy. ”
It had all started as a rather typical Sunday afternoon in the Bridgerton household. Violet had invited them all over for lunch - as she did every Sunday - and had asked Kate and Anthony to bring the starters.
There was much debate about who was to blame for forgetting about the task they’d been dealt with, with Kate claiming she’d told Anthony to think of something while Anthony denied any knowledge whatsoever.
There’d been a fight, some glowering and tension that had made just about everyone in the room uncomfortable, and then it had turned into a competition - like it always did. Ever since they’d opened competing bars next to each other.
The Bridgertons and the Sharmas had known each other for years. One could almost say the children were all family friends, however at times, saying they were friends was reaching. Kate and Benedict had been in the same year in primary, and in the same class. When some of the boys chose to poke fun at Benedict for collecting rocks and then painting them, Kate responded with her fists, never one to let a bully slide. That had endeared her to Anthony, who had always been one to look out for his siblings, their protector.
But that lasted a whole two days. Anthony, in all his infinite chivalry, had told Kate she absolutely could not play rugby with them, and as a girl, it was too dangerous for her. Kate, though a whole 6 inches shorter than Anthony at the time, had simply tilted her head, and stomped on his foot before walking away, ball in hand.
They’d been rival captains in the neighborhood for years afterwards.
As time went on, Kate, and then Edwina, became closer and closer to the siblings, and eventually, their parents started to host dinners for the other family. Edmund and Violet became best friends with Milan and Mary, and friends hanging out once in a while turned into summer vacations by the coast. There was no escaping the other for Kate and Anthony.
Though they didn’t always want to. Kate had sat by Anthony, holding his arm, when he finally broke down at his father’s funeral, once everyone else had left. She didn’t see him cry again for years, but always knew when he got the look in his eyes, thinking about his father. She’d sneak over to the Bridgerton’s and find Anthony, in the study, late on those nights. They would share a glass of whisky, from the final case his father had ever bought.
She’s become his silent partner, something she needed, when she lost her father a few short years later. Anthony showed up at her house hours after the funeral, whisky bottle in hand. He’d been away at university, but a single call from her had had him leaving in the middle of a lecture, to come home and be with the families during the time.
Maybe their shared whisky nights had left more of an impression than they realized. Not that either of them mentioned anything about it, outside of those nights. Not until they both showed up to summer holiday one year, ready to announce their very separate plans of opening bars. On the same street.
“Surely this is some form of foreplay?” Colin quickly interjected, looking less at Kate and Anthony and more at whatever was leftover from the dishes they were quickly putting together. Kate had glanced one time too many at the hand torch, which had worried Benedict.
They were currently both chopping something on their respective boards, both determined to create the perfect appetizers with whatever they could find in the kitchen with the rest of the family happily watching them tear each other to pieces.
“That makes me want to separate them even more,” Daphne looked a little green at the thought, though that could also have been the pregnancy hormones.
“Put that down, Bridgerton!” Kate yelled, making everyone in the room cringe and duck when she started heavily gesticulating with the knife in her hand. “We said no nuts! Hyacinth’s girlfriend is allergic.”
Colin, who had been sneaking closer to the crumbs leftover, had also jumped, snatching his hand back in guilt, before realizing she’d been yelling at his eldest brother. He looked from Kate towards his brother and muttered, “She’s got a knife in her hand and is yelling about nuts. I’d watch out if I were you” before snatching up a piece of the apple Anthony was currently working on. Edwina tilted her glass in a toast towards him at that, letting out a little snort. She’d been the only one to overhear.
“You’d think after months of them being together, it would be more ‘Kate’ and ‘Anthony’ instead of ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘Sharma,’ Henry commented, still a little confused by the pair, as he’d always been, even when they had spent years ignoring the growing attraction and the feelings that snuck in with it.
Colin, who was finishing chewing the piece of fruit he’d managed to scavenge, replied, “It’s the foreplay.”
“You know,” Sophie interjected from where she’d been watching the competition closely, “I’m actually not sure it is foreplay.” Having caught the pair in various states of undress too many times to count, in multiple locations including, but not limited to, Kate’s office, Anthony’s office at Pall Mall (the bar named to honor Anthony’s childhood), the supply closet, the private employee bathroom, she was all too well aware of the look in their eyes when they were particularly…amourous. Unfortunately. This was not that.
“You think this is already the main act?” Colin asked, looking at his brother with pity in his eyes.
Sophie only slapped his chest, snorting.
“Three more minutes!” Gregory proclaimed loudly, the mischievous grin on his face the only proof the rest needed to know that he’d not given them the full twenty minutes they’d agreed upon.
“Are you insane?” Francesca hissed at him while Hyacinth only held out her hand for him to high-five. “They both have knives in their hands.”
“It’s more fun this way,” Gregory cackled watching Anthony frantically search for a pan to caramelize the apple slices while Colin only mumbled, “Plus, I’m hungry.”
Mary and Violet simply sighed, sitting back further into their plush chairs, wine glasses refilled for the second time.
“You struggling over there, Bridgerton?” Kate yelled in the meantime, already arranging her small canapés she’d created on a serving platter that had Colin nodding appreciatively with pursed lips.
Anthony looked up, looked at her platter and snorted. “What’s that, Sharma? Crackers with some of my mum’s tuna spread on top?”
She didn’t even bother looking up while flipping him off. It was second nature to her. It had been for nearly 20 years, far longer than she’d been allowed to flip him off without one of her parents yelling.
“You know it’s not,” she said through elegantly-clenched teeth. “You’d know that if you ever bothered to come by Purple Tulip. You might have heard of it. It’s the bar kicking your sorry bar’s ass every Friday and Saturday night.”
Anthony looked up from his pan, grinning at her when he said, “Oh, I come there plenty.” Sophie choked on the olive in her drink, Benedict jumping into action behind her to clap her on the back, while Anthony continued. “And I sometimes even eat there.”
“Oooooookay,” Daphne yelled, putting her hands over her ears while Mary shrieked with laughter.
A couple seconds later Anthony had arranged the caramelized apple on top of his salad just as Gregory finally, mercifully yelled, “Aaaaand… Time’s up!”
“Finally,” Hyacinth mumbled and - as if she hadn’t been living in the very house for all her life - started rifling through the drawers to find a fork. “I want to go first.”
Hyacinth nodded appreciatively after one of Kate’s canapés, making the latter smirk and stick out her tongue at Anthony before moving on towards the salad.
“WAIT,” Anthony yelled, halting her and pulling out some ginger root from somewhere. “You need something to cleanse your palate in between.”
Kate only rolled her eyes and snorted. “Stop stalling. I’m going to win anyway. A palate cleanser is not going to save your sorry ass.”
Anthony pursed his lips and shrugged before taking a glass from the cupboard and grated some of the ginger into the glass all the while staring at Kate. “That’s not what you called it yesterday.”
Kate only stared at him incredulously. “What?”
Anthony put down the ginger root and filled the glass with some leftover hot water from the tea Violet had made before, before looking up at Kate and smirking. “My ass.”
“God, you’re annoying.” She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t quite hide her amusement.
He just grinned at her.
“So… we’re tied,” Gregory said, looking between the two of them. When no one reacted he shrugged. “Guess you’re going to have to fu….”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Gregory Bridgerton”, Violet said, wagging her finger at him.
“... fight it out,” Gregory finished, grinning at his mother who only rolled her eyes in response, leaning towards Mary to mumble, “I once had hope for him.”
It was at that exact moment that Eloise stumbled into the room, hair disheveled and blouse crinkled, mumbling, “So sorry I’m late. I had a… night.”
Anthony looked her up and down, frowned, opened his mouth as if to reprimand her, only to close it again at the look Kate threw at him. He pushed the thought that it was well past noon into the back of his head, where it would never be accessed again.
“Would you like to try a canapé, Eloise?” Kate asked instead, pointing towards her creation with a flourish of her hand and a smirk.
“Oh, yes,” she replied, taking two precarious steps towards the canapés. She picked one up, shoving it into her mouth greedily only to moan and mumble, her mouth still full of food, “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
“That’s what she said,” Francesca quipped. Anthony looked at her in horror, not expecting it from the one who other's had complained was his favorite. He didn't have favorites, at least that's what he told himself.
“I win,” Kate said, leaning back against the kitchen counter with her arms crossed, a triumphant smirk on her face.
“What? She’s not even tasted mine,” Anthony yelled, almost comically outraged.
“Yes,” Kate said. “Because she’s busy devouring mine.”
“You’re not playing fair,” Anthony frowned. “Eloise, would you like to…”
“No.” Eloise mumbled, crumbs of cracker falling out of her mouth. “No.” She sighed happily. “This is just what I needed after the… night.”
“I refuse to…”
“Admit defeat, Bridgerton.”
“No.”
They bickered back and forth for a bit, everyone watching with interest at first, but then the groans started as they realized it wasn’t going to end soon. That this, like so many times before, would become an hours-long battle between the two. Foreplay, some would call it, but in reality? Nothing ruled at that moment but the thoughts of destroying the other.
Eloise was the first to depart, walking forward, boldness in her step, as she strolled in between the bickering duo, so she could grab the platter Kate had set up. Picking it up, Eloise turned and walked straight out the door. Colin stared for half a second before quickly stumbling forward, grabbing the salad plate and then following Eloise out the door, led by his nose and stomach. The rest followed, back to the dining room where the rest of the luncheon was still waiting for them, before they’d given into Kate and Anthony’s need to take the other down.
“I knew you played dirty, Sharma,” Anthony mumbled while slow walking towards Kate, each step carefully planned to prolong the torture. “But I didn’t peg you as a cheater.”
Kate inhaled sharply when he finally stood in front of her, his hand sneaking around her waist to pull her flush against him.
“Didn’t cheat,” Kate only murmured, all coherent thought leaving her brain the second his lips touched her neck, torturously slowly kissing his way up towards her jaw.
Anthony hummed against her neck, making her squirm.
“Is there any way,” Kate panted, pushing her hands into his hair, “any way I can help you bear your loss with more dignity?”
Anthony lifted his head to look at her, resting his forehead against hers and leaning close enough so that each of his breaths fanned over her face, making her stomach knot and a smile bloom on her face.
“Actually,” he mumbled, mirroring her smile and brushing a featherlight kiss over her lips. “I can think of something.”
Anthony kicked the door shut and laughed as he was pushed against the back of it, Kate mumbling ‘Shut your mouth’ against his chest as she fumbled with the first three buttons on his shirt and kissed down with near frantic urgency.
“I thought you wanted to teach me dignity, Sharma” Anthony chuckled as he toed off his shoes, almost leisurely in comparison. “Instead a man might get a big head from how badly you want him,” Anthony smirked as he looked at her.
She rolled her eyes and bit his nipple.
“Ouch!” Anthony exclaimed, the smirk still not leaving his face.
“I’d love to see how big your head can get,” she grinned, before slowly unbuttoning the rest of his shirt, her eyes never leaving his.
Kate slowly moved, trailing her fingers down his chest, her lips following closely behind. She watched as his eyes darkened and smirked when she licked over sensitive parts of his skin and felt him inhale sharply.
Getting on her knees, she reached behind her head, releasing the tie holding her thin halter up.
“Just like that,” Anthony stopped her from taking more off, his mouth dropping as how disheveled she looked. He reached down, gently wiping from the corner of her mouth up to her temple with his thumb. Rubbing his thumb back and forth, Anthony was gentle for a moment before releasing her head, only to reach behind her and grab her hair. Weaving his fingers through, he knotted his fingers into it, tugging gently.
Kate glared up at him. “Anthony Bridgerton, I swear to god—” He cut her off.
“One more thing I’m better at than you,” he smirked and released her hair to brush his thumb over her lower lip. “Getting your hair all tangled.”
Kate rolled her eyes, before reaching forward to unbuckle and pull his belt out of his jeans. She’d learned very quickly how to get back at him.
She pushed down his jeans and just as he opened his mouth to speak once more, she wrapped her hand around his cock.
Enjoying his sharp intake of breath, she lowered her head. She felt the way his hooded eyes followed her every movement, the way he stopped breathing until she dropped a kiss on the head of his cock.
“Tiny head,” she mumbled and laughed as all the air left him in a chuckle.
“Fuck, I love you,” he laughed and let his head fall back against the door.
They shared a smile for a quiet, peaceful moment before she lowered her head again, licking around the tip before wrapping her lips around him, enjoying the way his hands immediately went into her hair while he let out a low groan.
She sucked him in, enjoying the way she felt his thighs tense, and smirked when she felt him hiss.
“Stop playing, Sharma,” he murmured, and only at the light scraping of her teeth did he add a whispered, “Please.”
Then she went to work.
She felt a pulling at the back of her head. Giving in, Kate let his cock fall out of her mouth with an audible pop. She could almost feel her lipstick smeared across her lips. She knew her hair was falling into pieces around her face, barely held back by his hand. She looked a mess. But given the way a few choice expletives dropped from his mouth, Kate knew Anthony loved it.
‘Kate,’ he let out a moan.
The man had already lost once today. She could let him have this.
_________________
Hours later, Kate dressed in nothing but Anthony’s shirt and still flushed from the way he had nearly driven her insane with need before finally giving in and thus giving her what she wanted, she stood inside their kitchen peering into the fridge to find something edible.
She heard him pad into the kitchen and come up behind her and a smile spread across her face as she felt him sneak his arms around her middle and nuzzle her neck.
“I thought we’d both already eaten?” he laughed and she just elbowed him, rolling her eyes.
“So, you admit I won fair and square today, right?” she said, leaning into his embrace.
“Maybe,” he mumbled and tugged on her ear before whispering, “But this isn’t over, darling.”
___
Now, for most couples, what had happened at the weekly luncheon would have been a one-off. But the thing about Kate and Anthony is that they had never been ones to let things rest.