Chapter 187 - Ch. 187 Wouldn't It Better To Hold My Hand?
Since childhood, Nick has understood what a crush is, and he dramatically idolizes Roxanne, one of his sister's friends. The girl was fearless and had unique habits.
She loved climbing a tree to bring back a fallen bird from its nest. Or when the girl jumped over the house wall so that she could escape from her father's wrath.
In contrast to Kaylee, who is more reserved, Roxanne is cheerful, energetic, and hard to control. But that's what makes Nick love her.
She could always make the atmosphere lively and laugh along with her.
Unfortunately… Roxanne has died in a plane crash. Nick would never see her again.
But… once in a while, he would see Roxanne inside Kaylee. And sometimes, he worried about Kaylee too much as if he liked her.
Is it possible… because of his excessive attention to Kaylee that everyone believes he likes her?
Well, Nick hasn't been near Kaylee lately. In addition, he also gets a busy schedule from his manager, so he doesn't have time to play with his sister and Kaylee.
"Lydia, you misunderstood. I don't see Kaylee as a woman."
"Then?"
"She… is like a rabbit that cannot be left alone," replied Nick nonchalantly. "Imagine if you have a pet who is often afraid and is easily bullied by others. Don't you want to protect it?"
"You… you compare Miss Kaylee to a pet?"
"Not just any pet. A bunny. A cute one."
"You…" Lydia was too speechless. "She's not like a rabbit. Besides, you underestimated Miss Kaylee too much. She's not as weak as you think. When something is bothering the people closest to her, she could be fierce."
"I never saw it. Why do I feel like you know her better than I do? I'm closer to her."
Before she could answer his question, Nick's friends came over to them and hugged Nick's shoulder.
"Hey, Nick, why didn't you tell me you got a girlfriend? You won't introduce her to us."
"I'm not…."
"Isn't she cute?" interrupted Nick before Lydia finished her objection.
"Too cute to make you not recognize her from behind?" teased Jacob invited laughter from both of them.
"Blame her. She has never looked like this in front of me."
Lydia gaped in disbelief at Nick's answer. Why should she dress up in front of Nick?
"Hi, my name's Adam." Adam extended his hand towards Lydia.
Lydia was hesitant to accept the friendly stretched hand because that would be tantamount to admitting she was Nick's girlfriend when she wasn't.
In the end, Lydia took the young man's hand and said, "I'm Lydia, and I'm not his girlfriend. I'm an old acquaintance of his sister."
"Oh, I see. At least you're not the third sister or something." Adam replied while winked at her playingly.
"Isn't this the first time we've seen someone turn down Nick? At that time, some random girl kissed him out of the blue, and now a girl denied that she is Nick's girlfriend, even though the person in question is not trying to justify our words."
"Go away!" protested Nick made his friends laugh, amused. "Wait here. I'll get my guitar first."
"But…" Lydia couldn't continue her words because the young man had run to get his guitar.
Why did the boy give the impression that she had come here to see him? She came here to meet Wendy!
"Are you really not Nick's girlfriend?" a sweet voice was heard from a young girl who was the singer of Nick's band.
"I'm not."
"But you came here for him, though." the girl's guess again left Lydia speechless. Lydia wanted to hide her face even more when Nick's friends chuckled at the young girl's guess.
She came here to meet Wendy, but until this moment, the woman did not appear here. If she insisted on denying it and telling them she was waiting for Wendy, wouldn't that sound like an excuse?
Thus, Lydia chose to respond with a friendly smile instead. She wished Nick's friends left her alone so she could go, but it seemed her prayers were unanswered.
Adam, Fritz, and Jacob took turns greeting her friendly and making small talk with her. The girl named Letti also greeted her as warm as the boys.
For some reason… she felt that Nick's friends were good people.
Ah, they're all Kaylee's friends considering it was the girl who went to college using Nick's identity.
She knew all of Kaylee's friends must be good people who made her feel comfortable talking to them without having to be careful.
Not long after, Nick came in with a guitar case clipped behind his back.
"Are you alone?" Lydia nodded her head in response to Nick's question. "Then I'll take you home."
"There's no need.…"
"I'm going first. See you at the next schedule." ignoring Lydia's protests, Nick grabbed the girl's arm and said goodbye to his friends.
He chuckled in amusement when he heard the mischievous whistling of his friends while Lydia just rolled her eyes lazily.
"You don't have to take me home."
"It's already late. It's not good for a cute girl like you to walk home alone."
"It's still eight o'clock at night."
"What do you want to eat?"
"Are you listening to me?" Lydia pinched Nick's cheek making the boy whined in a spoiled tone.
"Ow… ow… it hurts…." Nick cupped Lydia's hand that was pinching his cheek and grabbed her hand, causing Lydia's eyes to widen.
Was Nick trying to seduce her?
Lydia immediately released her pinch and pulled away from the boy's grip, but Nick didn't let her go.
"What are you doing?"
"Instead of pinching me, wouldn't it be better to hold my hand?"
What?? "Let go," once again, Lydia tried to pull her hand away in vain.
As if someone had dug the grave of her feelings forcibly, her heart nearly jumped out when Nick did something unexpected.
The young man put their intertwined hands into his coat pocket!!
"Nick!"
"What? You can touch my face all you want. Why can't I hold your hand? That's not fair." Nick showed his sulked face and put his puppy eyes on Lydia making the girl speechless.
"Didn't I touch your cheek? Why are you holding my hand instead?"
"Then you want me to touch your cheek?" Nick suddenly turned his face towards her, making Lydia used her free hand to hold the boy.
Seriously. What is this boy doing? And why is her heart pounding so hard??