Chapter 177:cousin talk

Chapter 177: Chapter 177:cousin talk

The cold water hit Damian’s face and shoulders hard enough to make him suck in a breath.

He stayed beneath the shower, one hand braced against the tiled wall, letting the water run over him.

For several moments, he said nothing.

Not gradually.

All at once.

The car.

The empty road.

Vivienne beside him.

Her voice, soft and impossibly sincere.

Damian... I like you.

And then his own answer—

I like you too.

His eyes shut.

He remembered the way she’d looked at him after that.

The smile.

The closeness.

And then—

Damian groaned quietly.

"What the hell was I doing?"

He lifted his head and let the cold water run over his face.

He had acted like a complete hooligan.

He hadn’t even hesitated.

Not once.

That was the embarrassing part.

He had simply believed her, pulled her closer, and kissed her as though he’d been waiting for permission his entire life. ℯℯ𝑙.

Damian lifted his head and let the water run over his face again.

He had never even kissed her.

He had never even been in a relationship with her.

Yet his subconscious had apparently decided to skip every reasonable step and throw him directly into—

Yet somehow his subconscious had apparently decided to skip every reasonable step and manufacture an entire romance on its own.

"Unbelievable."

He lowered his forehead against the cool tile.

And this wasn’t even the first time.

Since Sunday, the dreams had kept changing.

Different places.

Different circumstances.

Sometimes they were simply talking.

Sometimes she would look at him differently.

Sometimes she would tell him she liked him.

But somehow, every dream followed the same pattern.

Eventually—

Christopher Archibald appeared.

And Vivienne left with him.

That was the part Damian couldn’t understand.

Why Christopher?

Why him?

He had barely given the man a second thought before Sunday.

Yet since Monday, Christopher had been everywhere in his thoughts.

Damian slowly lifted his head.

Of course.

That was why.

Sunday.

The Student Union event.

He remembered standing there and watching Vivienne approach Christopher.

The conversation.

The easy smiles.

And then—

They exchanged telephone numbers.

That was it.

That had been the beginning.

His subconscious had simply taken what he’d seen and turned it into the ending of every ridiculous dream afterward.

There was no deeper meaning.

There couldn’t be.

Damian exhaled.

"That’s all it is."

He said it aloud this time.

He had seen Vivienne exchange numbers with Christopher.

His mind had remembered it.

Then, because apparently his subconscious had a cruel sense of humor, it had inserted Christopher into every dream involving her.

Nothing more.

It certainly didn’t mean that Christopher was actually interested in her.

It didn’t mean Vivienne was interested in him.

And it didn’t mean—

Damian frowned.

"Enough."

He shut off the water.

That was why he’d been watching Christopher all week.

Monday.

Tuesday.

The debate.

He’d been unusually competitive with Christopher without even meaning to be.

Wednesday, he’d caught him looking at his phone during class and immediately wondered whether it was Vivienne.

Thursday, there had been nothing.

And still he’d noticed.

It was absurd.

He was allowing a series of dreams to influence the way he looked at another man.

Damian stepped out of the shower and reached for his towel.

He had better things to do.

He had polo practice.

That was something real.

Something he understood.

By the time he had dressed and left his room, he’d decided that was exactly what he was going to focus on.

Polo.

Nothing else.

--

The morning air was cool as Damian crossed the university grounds.

The Polo Club was located beside the Equestrian Club, separated only by a broad stretch of fencing and a narrow service path.

As he walked, his gaze drifted briefly toward the neighboring grounds.

The Equestrian Club.

Vivienne was there.

For a moment, his steps slowed.

He remembered what she had told him.

Flowers.

Letters.

Remembering little things.

Walking her back to her dorm.

Grand gestures.

A dramatic confession.

Fireworks.

Damian grimaced.

He still couldn’t believe she’d said all of that with a completely straight face.

She’d also said she could compromise.

That was reassuring.

Somewhat.

Although he wasn’t sure whether he could manage even the compromised version of her expectations.

He could buy flowers.

He could remember things.

He could probably manage walking someone back to their dormitory.

Letters were questionable.

Fireworks were entirely unreasonable.

And confessing his feelings in front of an audience?

Absolutely not.

Damian shook his head.

What was he even thinking?

Vivienne wasn’t asking him to do any of that.

She hadn’t been talking about him.

She didn’t even know that he liked her.

And she had just ended her engagement with his cousin.

That alone should have been enough reason to stay away.

Except...

It wasn’t.

Because none of those thoughts changed the simplest fact.

He liked her.

Damian sighed.

"Whatever."

He continued toward the Polo Club.

Perhaps he didn’t need to figure everything out today.

Perhaps he simply needed to stop thinking so much.

--

The Polo Club was already busy when he arrived.

Several members were preparing their horses while others were checking equipment.

Damian greeted a few of them before heading toward the stables.

Then he saw someone familiar.

Anthony.

His cousin stood near one of the horses, speaking with another player.

Damian stopped.

For a moment, he simply watched him.

He had known about Anthony and Vivienne’s engagement practically his entire life.

Everyone had.

Their families had been discussing the arrangement since they were children, long before either of them had understood what marriage meant.

And Damian had always been there for the teasing.

Vivienne had followed Anthony everywhere when they were younger.

Damian had teased her mercilessly for it.

He’d also teased Anthony about having his little shadow following him around.

To Damian, back then, Vivienne had simply been part of Anthony’s life.

Anthony’s future fiancée.

Eventually, almost like family.

That was how he’d always thought of her.

Until recently.

Until he had started seeing her differently.

Damian pushed the thought aside.

He walked over.

"Anthony."

Anthony looked up.

"Damian."

"You came early."

"Couldn’t sleep."

Anthony gave him an amused glance.

"That’s unusual."

Damian ignored the remark.

He waited until the other player had moved away before speaking.

"Can I ask you something?"