Chapter 320: Lacking II

Chapter 320: Chapter 320: Lacking II

Damian continued lying on the bed.

His thoughts drifted to the fact that Vivienne had not informed him of anything yet.

He looked at his phone.

No message.

No explanation.

Nothing.

Maybe she was planning to tell him.

Maybe she wasn’t.

Damian didn’t know which possibility irritated him more.

If she was serious about Christopher, surely she would eventually have to tell him.

But then what?

Would she come to him and say they were finished?

Would she end their arrangement now that she had a boyfriend?

Or would she simply continue seeing Damian as though nothing had changed?

The last possibility was the one he wanted.

He knew that.

He wanted her to keep coming back to him.

He wanted what they had to continue.

But another thought kept circling through his mind.

Vivienne had slept with him so quickly. There had been no hesitation once the moment came, no long period of uncertainty or restraint. She had wanted him, and she had acted on it.

So what made Christopher different?

If she had been willing to sleep with Damian so easily, would she do the same with Christopher now?

The thought made his stomach twist.

Would she let Christopher touch her whenever he wanted?

Would she let Christopher touch her anywhere, at any time, with the same ease she had let Damian?

Would she give Christopher the same access to her body, the same intimacy, the same reckless freedom?

Damian’s jaw tightened.

He had been her first.

She had been his first.

That mattered to him more than he wanted to admit.

And while he knew perfectly well that it didn’t give him any right to claim her, some part of him still couldn’t stand the thought of sharing her with someone else.

Especially Christopher.

The worst part was that Damian couldn’t even convince himself Vivienne would resist.

She had never seemed afraid of wanting something.

If she wanted Christopher, she might give herself to him just as quickly as she had given herself to Damian.

Maybe even more easily now that she knew what she was doing.

He shook his head.

Yet despite all these thoughts, he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her completely.

Maybe that was why he hadn’t called.

Hadn’t texted.

Hadn’t confronted her.

Because once he asked her what she intended to do, he might have to hear that she wanted to end things.

And Damian wasn’t ready for that possibility.

Not when some selfish part of him was still hoping she would choose to keep coming back to him.

He would rather have something than lose her completely.

That was the truth.

And he hated how much that truth exposed him.

--

A knock sounded at the door.

Damian didn’t move.

Another knock.

Then Julian’s voice came from the other side.

"Damian?"

He stared at the ceiling.

He doesn’t want to talk to Julian.

He doesn’t want to talk to anyone.

Maybe if he stayed quiet, he would assume he was asleep.

Another knock.

"Damian?"

Damian shut his eyes.

"Damian, we know you’re in there."

He exhaled slowly.

Oh, fuck.

Of course they knew.

He pushed himself up from the bed.

There was no point pretending anymore.

With a reluctant sigh, Damian walked over and opened the door.

Julian took one look at him.

"Hey."

Damian gave him a brief nod.

"What?"

Julian studied his face.

"Why do you look like that?"

"Like what?"

"Pissed."

Damian almost sighed.

He wasn’t pissed at them.

They had nothing to do with this.

"I’m fine," he said.

Julian gave him a skeptical look.

"Right."

Adrian remained quiet beside him.

Julian glanced past Damian into the room.

"Can we come in?"

Damian stepped aside.

"Yeah. Come in."

They entered.

Damian closed the door behind them.

Julian looked at him again.

"You know..."

Damian turned.

"What?"

"It seems like you already know what we’re here to say."

Damian frowned slightly.

"Like what?"

Julian exchanged a quick glance with Adrian.

"I don’t know. We just thought maybe you’d heard."

"Heard what?"

Julian hesitated.

"We saw Vivienne Beaumont downstairs."

Damian went still.

For one brief second, something inside him lifted.

Vivienne?

Downstairs?

Had she come looking for him?

Maybe she still wanted to continue their arrangement?

Before he could think any further, Julian continued.

"We thought she was waiting for you."

Damian looked at him.

"And?"

Julian sighed.

"But apparently she was waiting for Christopher."

Damian’s expression went blank.

"They left together," Julian said.

A brief pause.

"Hand in hand."

Damian said nothing.

Julian looked at him for a moment.

"So..."

He glanced at Adrian.

"What’s going on?"

Damian gave a small shrug.

"I don’t know."

"I thought you and Vivienne were seeing each other."

"We were."

Julian frowned.

"You had something going on, didn’t you?"

"Friends with benefits."

"Right."

Julian nodded slowly.

"So technically, no one’s cheating on anyone."

"No."

"But she’s with Christopher now?"

"That seems to be the case."

Julian looked at him.

"So you knew?"

"I saw them this morning."

"Oh."

Julian was quiet for a moment.

Then something occurred to him.

"Wait."

Damian looked over.

"Does Christopher know?"

Damian frowned.

"Know what?"

"That you and Vivienne have been..."

Julian made a vague gesture between them.

"...seeing each other."

Damian went still.

He hadn’t thought about that.

Did Christopher know?

If Vivienne hadn’t told Damian about Christopher, then surely she hadn’t told Christopher about Damian.

At least, probably not.

The thought settled uncomfortably in his mind.

What happened if Christopher found out?

Would he leave her?

Damian stared at the floor.

Maybe.

Maybe he wouldn’t be able to accept that she had been sleeping with someone else only yesterday.

Maybe he’d walk away.

The thought came almost immediately.

And for one ugly second, Damian found himself wondering—

Would that really be so bad?

If Christopher left, then he’d be out of the picture.

Vivienne would be free.

Damian could try again.

He could talk to her.

He could explain.

Maybe she would understand.

Maybe, if Christopher was no longer there, she would realize that what she had with Damian had meant something too.

His chest tightened.

At least then he would have a chance.

But what if Vivienne found out that he had told Christopher?

She would hate him.

The thought hit harder than he expected.

She might never forgive him.

She might think he’d deliberately ruined things between her and Christopher.

And then what?

Would she ever want Damian again?

He swallowed.

Maybe he could explain.

Tell her he hadn’t meant to hurt her.

Tell her he had only—

Damian stopped.

Only what?

Wanted Christopher gone?

Well, at least he has that window of opportunity. But then again...

He didn’t even know how Christopher would react.

Maybe he wouldn’t leave.

Maybe he’d accept it.

Maybe he’d wouldn’t even mind that Damian and Vivienne had once been friends with benefits.

He’s mature and he has been with other girls so it would hyprocritical of him to demand that he be Vivienne’s first.

And then Damian would be exactly where he was now.

Except Vivienne would know that he’d been thinking about telling Christopher.

His stomach tightened.

And there was something else.

Anthony.

If Christopher walked away, Vivienne might not choose Damian.

She might go back to Anthony.

Anthony still wanted her.

Damian knew that.

And Anthony knew Damian wanted her.

He just didn’t know what had happened between them.

Damian’s jaw clenched.

So even if Christopher disappeared, there was no guarantee.

Nothing guaranteed that Vivienne would choose him.

Nothing.

"Damian?"

He blinked.

Julian was looking at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Damian stared at him for a moment.

Then he exhaled.

"Nothing."

Julian raised an eyebrow.

Damian looked away.

"It’s complicated."

--

Tbc