Chapter 205: Oaks and barrels II

Chapter 205: Chapter 205: Oaks and barrels II

"Damian likes me."

Claire stared at her.

Amelia stared at her.

Eleanor simply smiled.

Vivienne frowned.

"What?"

Claire leaned back in her seat.

"You finally figured it out."

Vivienne blinked.

"You knew?"

"All of us knew."

"We told you before," Eleanor reminded her.

Vivienne looked between them.

"I thought you were exaggerating."

"We weren’t."

Amelia laughed.

"So what finally convinced you?"

Vivienne sighed.

"Today."

She told them.

Not every tiny detail, but enough.

The bag.

The seatbelt.

The way Damian had touched her hair.

The phone.

The jealousy.

Lunch.

The broccoli.

By the time she finished, Claire was grinning.

"So."

Vivienne looked at her.

"So?"

"You’re enjoying this."

Vivienne’s mouth opened.

Then closed.

She looked down at her glass.

"...Maybe."

Amelia laughed.

"I knew it."

Vivienne sighed.

"That’s the problem."

"What problem?"

Vivienne leaned forward, lowering her voice.

"I like Christopher."

"Yes."

"And I like Damian."

"Yes."

"And I don’t want either of them to stop liking me."

Claire’s expression turned thoughtful.

"All right. But what about Christopher?"

Vivienne looked at her.

"What about him?"

"Does he actually like you?"

Vivienne hesitated.

"I’m not sure."

She smiled faintly.

"But I can tell he’s interested."

"How?"

"Whenever I text him, he always replies."

"Always?"

"Pretty much. No matter what time I message him, he answers. Even when he’s busy." She shrugged. "So I guess... he must be interested."

Amelia nodded slowly.

"So Christopher might like you..."

"And Damian definitely likes you," Claire finished.

Vivienne sighed.

"Exactly."

There was a brief silence.

Then Claire burst out laughing.

Vivienne gave her an offended look.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because you’re making it sound like a moral crisis."

"It is a moral crisis."

Eleanor, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

"Well..."

She hesitated.

"I suppose there is one question."

Vivienne immediately looked at her.

"What?"

"Are you leading either of them on?"

Vivienne paused.

That was exactly what had been bothering her.

"I don’t think so."

She traced a finger around the edge of her glass.

"I haven’t promised anything to either of them. Christopher and I are only getting to know each other. Damian hasn’t actually told me he likes me."

Claire nodded.

"Exactly."

Vivienne looked at her.

"Exactly what?"

"You’re single."

Amelia leaned back.

"Very single."

"And neither man is your boyfriend."

"Exactly."

"So what is the problem?"

Vivienne frowned.

"I don’t know."

Claire pointed at her.

"You’re worried you’re becoming a playgirl."

Vivienne’s eyes widened.

"Yes!"

Amelia burst out laughing.

"Oh, please."

"What?"

"If you’re a playgirl, then half the women on campus are."

Vivienne laughed despite herself.

Amelia lifted her glass.

"I’m currently texting three people."

Eleanor looked at her.

"Three?"

"Two seriously."

"The third?"

"I’m still deciding."

Claire laughed.

"And you’re lecturing Vivienne about morality?"

"I’m not lecturing anyone."

Amelia looked at Vivienne.

"I’m saying enjoy yourself. You don’t owe anyone a relationship simply because they happen to like you."

Vivienne smiled.

That sounded suspiciously reasonable.

Eleanor sighed.

"There is still a difference between enjoying attention and deliberately encouraging someone you know you won’t choose."

"I know."

Vivienne nodded.

"That is what I’m worried about."

Claire waved a hand.

"But you don’t know what you’re going to choose."

"No."

"And you don’t have to choose yet."

Vivienne looked at her.

Claire grinned.

"That’s the entire point."

Something in Vivienne relaxed.

She did know that.

She wasn’t promising Damian anything.

She wasn’t promising Christopher anything.

She wasn’t pretending to be in love with either of them.

She simply...

Didn’t want to choose yet.

And maybe that was why this felt so intoxicating.

Vivienne leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

It was ridiculous.

She’d read enough romance novels to know exactly what this was supposed to feel like.

The heroine caught between the brilliant, irresistible male lead and the devastatingly handsome second male lead.

The endless internal monologues.

The confusion.

The agonizing question of Who should I choose?

Except she wasn’t confused.

Not really.

She knew she liked Christopher.

She knew she liked Damian.

And, for perhaps the first time in her life, she was experiencing what she’d always found so entertaining in those stories.

She didn’t want to choose.

Not yet.

She wanted both men to keep looking at her like that.

She wanted Christopher’s messages.

She wanted Damian’s attention.

She wanted the butterflies.

She wanted the teasing.

She wanted to see what happened when she flirted with Damian.

She wanted to see where things went with Christopher.

And, frankly...

She was having far too much fun.

Vivienne covered her face.

"Oh my God."

Claire laughed.

"What?"

"This is actually happening."

"What is?"

"The thing."

"What thing?"

Vivienne lowered her hands.

"The thing every romantic heroine gets to experience."

Amelia’s eyes lit up.

"Oh."

Vivienne nodded gravely.

"The two-men problem."

Claire nearly choked laughing.

"That’s what you’re calling it?"

"Yes."

"That’s terrible."

"I know."

Vivienne started laughing too.

"I’m supposed to be the woman who was never chosen."

She gestured helplessly.

"And now I’m sitting here wondering which handsome man I like more."

Eleanor smiled.

"Technically, you’re not wondering."

Vivienne stopped.

Then smiled.

"Exactly."

She pointed at Eleanor.

"That’s the thing."

She leaned back, looking completely pleased with herself.

"I’m not confused."

Claire raised an eyebrow.

"Then what are you?"

Vivienne thought about it.

Then answered honestly.

"Greedy."

The table erupted.

Vivienne laughed until her cheeks hurt.

"All right, fine!"

She wiped at the corner of her eye.

"Maybe I just want to enjoy it."

Amelia lifted her glass.

"To enjoying it."

Claire immediately raised hers.

"To two handsome men."

Eleanor sighed, but raised her glass too.

"To making sensible decisions."

Vivienne laughed.

"That’s boring."

"Someone has to be responsible."

"Not tonight."

Their glasses touched.

Vivienne smiled.

She still didn’t know what would happen.

Maybe Christopher would become something more.

Maybe Damian would eventually confess.

Maybe she’d have to choose.

But not tonight.

Tonight, she was simply a woman who had somehow wandered into the kind of romantic situation she’d always secretly dreamed about.

And for once...

She wasn’t going to rush to the ending.