Nice Try

Staring at her for a long time, the man seemed to think of something, with a trace of absurdity in his eyes.

Then his interest came up inexplicably. He drew his eyebrows and eyes, and deliberately lowered his voice, “Yeap."

"…"

Ashley could not calm down and was on the verge of collapse. "Do Mom and Dad agree?"

It was quiet for a few more seconds.

The man licked the corner of his lips and said with a smile, “Sure."

The voice fell, and Ashley was stupefied again.

Compared with Liam's voice, this voice was a little more clear and moist, and when he spoke, the ending would be long, and it sounded ambiguous and affectionate.

Compared with her brother's voice and tone that was always cold and strict, 

this voice was completely different.

"Kiddo."

He chuckled and continued, "Come and see if brother looks better."

Ashley instantly sensed that something was wrong.

At this time, there was some noise behind her.

It was the sound of the door opening, then the sound of shoes slapping on the ground.

Ashley subconsciously looked back. She saw Liam's face in an instant.

The man had broad shoulders and narrow waists and was a little thinner than he was a few months ago. His hair was wet and he had a towel over his shoulder. He seemed to have just taken a bath.

Seeing Ashley, he pulled at the corner of his mouth, picked up the fork on the fruit plate in her hand, poked a piece of watermelon, and went inside.

As if seeing a ghost, Ashley shouted trembling, “Liam, Liam."

"What?"

Liam glanced at her and took a bite of the watermelon. "Am I more handsome?"

"I..."

Before she had finished, the man behind him burst out laughing and interrupted Ashley's words.

Ashley seldom had a feeling of being in a hurry and couldn't help looking in his direction.

What was reflected in the eyes was a brighter existence than the sunshine outside the window.

The man's light-colored eyes were filled with fine light and a smile. He just stared at her gently, like a tempting devil.

Ashley's heartbeat stopped in an instant as if her soul was captured by the charming devil, completely.

Thinking that he was mocking his words, Liam looked at him and said, "Jacob, what the..."

Because of the existence of Ashley, Liam did not say the following dirty words.

He changed the subject, picked up his cell phone, opened the SMS interface, and shook it at Ashley.

"What kind of trouble have you done, lady?"

What was shown above was their conversation just now.

The short-lived emptiness-like emotion was interrupted by Liam, which disappeared in an instant without a trace.

Ashley immediately retorted, "I'm not in trouble."

Liam stared at her, eyebrows raised, “That would be fine."

"…"

Ashley had to ask her brother for help, so she could only brazenly say, "But, brother, I have something to..."

There was also a stranger whom she had never seen before. Ashley looked in his direction and then at Liam, with a hint in her eyes and a hesitation.

Liam just pretended not to notice it.

Then the stranger spoke with interest, “Liam, is this your sister?"

Liam went to the bedside and sat down. "Why? Do you think she is my daughter?"

"…"

Ashley also asked in return, “Brother, who is he?"

Liam said succinctly, “My roommate, Jacob."

"Don't you recognize me?" Jacob said, "Didn't you just call me brother?"

This remark reminded Ashley of her silly idea, and her taut face collapsed instantly, looking a little annoyed. Liam snorted.

While speaking, Jacob walked up to Ashley and half squatted down.

He looked at her seriously, and his light-colored pupils seemed gentle and bewitched, “My name is Jacob, and I am a friend of your brother."

Ashley moved her eyes away and said with an uncomfortable expression, “Cool."

After solemnly introducing himself to Ashley, Jacob turned his head and returned to his usually casual appearance, “Liam."

Liam did not lift his eyes and continued to play with his mobile phone.

Jacob asked, "It seems that I look a lot like you?"

“What are you talking about?”

Liam stopped and looked up, “Look in the mirror."

"Well."

Jacob took the fruit plate from Ashley's hand. "Why did this kiddo just ask me--"

"…"

He paused for two seconds and then smiled again, “if I had plastic surgery?"

"…"

After a brief silence, Liam said coldly, “What do you mean?"

"Brother!"

For fear of upsetting Liam, he did not help her to meet the teacher.

Ashley hastened to change the subject. "Didn't you say you couldn't come back?"

"Kid."

Thinking of Ashley's expression just now, Liam said impassively, "Do you think he is me?"

"… No, no."

"And you think he is me after plastic surgery?"

"…"

"How did you get this idea?"

Liam was always confident, "I had plastic surgery? And like him?"

Seeing him seem to be endless, Ashley also became angry, “Don't you take it for granted that you want to be like him?"

"…"

"Mom didn't tell me you brought a friend back."

Anger beat Ashley back to her original form, revealing her original character. "And he is the only person in the room. Isn't it normal for me to have this idea?"

Liam pulled out his ear impatiently and said, "Keep your voice down."

Ashley kept a poker face, “Why do I have to keep my voice down? I didn't affect others."

The two confronted each other.

Liam did not want to give in to his sister and continued to add fuel to the fire, “You indeed affected me."

It seemed that the quarrel was going to get worse and worse.

Jacob took the initiative to ease the atmosphere and waved to Ashley, “Kiddo, come and eat some fruit."

With his friend around, Liam was no longer in the mood to bully this sister who was always against him.

He looked at his phone and said to Jacob, "Would you like to take a bath? After that, we have to go back to school. "

"No."

Jacob poked a piece of watermelon and handed it to Ashley. "Eat some fruit."

Ashley pursed her lips and subconsciously looked at the man.

At this moment, the childish and ugly quarrel with Liam just appeared in her mind.

In addition, this big brother, who looked amiable, has just revealed her humiliation so indifferently.

A feeling of grievance and unspeakable emotion floated to her mind.

She felt abandoned by the whole world.

Her cheeks began to burn uncontrollably. She started to feel embarrassed.

She took it silently as if the tip of her nose was blocked by something, and the heat gushed up.

After holding it back with all her strength for a long time, there was a lump in her throat.

Jacob stopped by the sound.

Liam also heard it and raised his eyes, “Oh, come on!”

The words were like magic.

As soon as she heard them, she couldn’t control her tears.

The pent-up cry was amplified in an instant, reverberating in the room and down the wall to the living room.

"…"

The two big men froze in place at the same time.

Hearing the sound, their mother immediately came in from the living room and said, "What's going on?"

Liam responded quickly and brazenly said, "Jacob, how can you bully my sister?"

Jacob looked stiff.

He had never been in such a situation and didn't know how to react for a moment.

He didn't even know whether he made the child cry or not.

The next moment, Ashley grabbed the hem of his clothes and hid behind him, looking particularly scared.

She looked at Grace and sobbed, pointing to Liam with the other hand, “Mom. Whoa, whoa, whoa... Liam, Liam…"

Grace looked at Liam with madness.

Ashley's cry was even more sorrowful, “My brother beat me... "

Liam, “…"

The child cried so badly that tears fell straight down as if to hit a person's heart.

It was rare to see Ashley cry so much. Grace suddenly lost her position and gently coaxed her. Then she changed her face and dragged Liam to the living room to teach him a lesson.

The door opened and closed as they moved.

The atmosphere cooled because of the lack of one person.

Ashley loosened the piece of Jacob’s clothes, and the cry gradually ended.

Jacob looked back at her.

The little girl was still young and she seemed not as healthy as her peers. She was less than 1.5 meters tall and she could only reach his chest. Her eyes were big, red, looking like a rabbit.

Then she took a pitiful bite of the watermelon. The crying stopped completely.

Jacob smiled and did not ask her why she was crying. He drew two pieces of paper on the table, “Stop crying?"

The sadness dissipated with the crying, and Ashley was now in a better mood, but there was still a trace of shame.

She hung her head and said nothing.

There was a big gap in height between the two, so Jacob simply bent down and wiped her tears with a paper towel, “Go and wash your face later."

Ashley was used to being taken care of in this way, so she didn't avoid it.

In silence.

An idea suddenly sprang up in Ashley’s mind.

An idea that must be abrupt to a stranger.

After thinking about it for a long time, Ashley opened her mouth. Because she just cried, her voice was a little nasal, which was particularly lovely, “Brother, are you leaving?"

Jacob raised his eyelashes and said, "Why?"

"Are you free tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes." Ashley whispered, "Tomorrow."

Jacob chuckled, “Why did you ask about my time?"

He didn't make it clear that if he was free, and Ashley couldn't say, "It’s just, just…"

For a long time, she did not tell him the reasons, and finally went back to the original question, “Brother, are you free tomorrow?"

Jacob lowered his eyes and said lazily, "What if I’m not free tomorrow?"

Ashley was in a hurry, “No!"

She just offended Liam, he certainly would not help her, now the only hope was this person.

She clenched her fist and threatened dryly, “You must be free, if you are not free, I will… I will tell my mom that you two hit me together, mixed doubles. "

"…"

‘Mixed doubles? Nice try, kiddo.’

Jacob tugged at the corner of his mouth, “Kiddo, why are you unreasonable?"

Ashley looked at him and said, "I'm still young."

"Hmm?"

"I don't know how to be reasonable."

"…"

Okay.

Jacob smiled and said, "First tell me what you are going to do tomorrow."

Ashley hesitated for a moment and said gently, "Can you pretend to be my brother, biological brother?"

Jacob raised his eyebrows.

"And then tomorrow." She felt a little embarrassed, and her voice dropped. "go and meet my teacher ... "

Jacob understood, “Your teacher wants to meet your parents, right?"

Ashley fell silent, as if in acquiescence.

"Why?"

Thinking of the reason she thought in the bus, Ashley didn't know if he would buy it. She scratched her head and hesitated, "I don’t wanna say, is it ok?"

"Yes."

Without waiting for Ashley to breathe a sigh of relief, Jacob added, “Then I will be not available tomorrow."