Raise Love

Ryder pushed his luck and ruffled her hair a few more times.

The little girl's hair was really too soft. The texture was so good that it felt like petting a cat, even more comfortable than stroking the one he had at home.

By the time they walked from the teaching building to the downstairs of the dormitory, the ice - cream was almost finished, with just a little left. Aria looked at Ryder, and he raised his eyebrows. "Finish it before going back?"

Aria thought for a moment, then stopped and quickly finished the remaining few bites.

She licked her lips, and after making sure there was no cream on the corners of her mouth, she slightly tilted her head up and looked at the boy standing under the streetlight.

Ryder handed her the fruit tea.

"Go back," he said.

Aria took it and nodded obediently, saying softly, "Goodbye then."

Then she stood still.

Unexpectedly, as if he had remembered something, the man turned around, walked two steps, and then stopped.

Aria panicked a little, tightened her grip on the fruit - tea bag, and quickly turned around to pretend she had already left before he turned around and saw her.

Ryder called her, "Aria."

"Ah?" Aria stopped and turned around. Her heart was pounding loudly, scaring herself.

Surely... he didn't notice, right?

Ryder said, "You have to get up early for the military training tomorrow. Go to bed early today. Remember to put a few more layers of insoles in your shoes. The rubber soles are thin, and your feet will hurt if you stand for a long time. Also, bring an extra bottle of water."

Aria opened her mouth in surprise.

She didn't expect that was what he stopped her for.

She answered dully.

However, Ryder still didn't leave after saying that.

Nor did he say anything else.

Aria looked at him curiously and asked in confusion, "Is there anything else?"

"..." Ryder's expression became a bit strange.

After a while, "If you don't have insoles, you can use..." He paused, then said, "Don't you girls all have those?"

Aria: "?"

He mumbled, and she didn't catch what he said.

Ryder: "They're soft."

Aria: "??"

Aria: "..."

After a few seconds, she suddenly understood, and her small face instantly turned bright red.

Her almond - shaped eyes widened.

Ryder knew she got it from her expression. He casually grinned and said, "I'm not teasing you this time. It really works."

The two of them stared at each other.

Ryder had no doubt that if it weren't for this explanation, the little girl would probably have regarded him as a lecher.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to curse him for being a rogue.

He sighed and laughed helplessly. "The military training at Harvard University has always been strict. It's not comparable to that in Trinity School. The Student Union is trained according to military standards. You've spent an extra year in the classroom, and you may not be able to endure such intense physical exertion. If you don't listen, you'll suffer."

Aria said dully, "Oh."

Ryder looked at her petite figure.

He suddenly hesitated. Could this delicate and prone to crying girl endure the two - week military training?

Aria wasn't actually short.

Wearing flat shoes, she seemed to be over 165 cm tall.

Ryder was 187 cm. When they stood side by side, he was more than a head taller than her. However, the little girl was extremely slender, and she was usually quiet and soft, giving the illusion of being very petite.

It gave people the feeling that she might break easily and needed to be protected carefully, as if she couldn't bear hardships.

Especially for Ryder.

The most common emotion he had seen from her was her looking pitiful and shedding tears.

This made him very worried.

Perhaps because of Maya Brooks, he subconsciously categorized her as one of his own, treating her like a younger sister. Even more so, he thought this girl needed to be coaxed.

She couldn't be provoked, or she would cry.

"Have you washed your military training uniform?" Ryder asked.

Aria: "Yes, I have."

"Okay." Ryder nodded and reminded, "Bring sunscreen, a few band - aids, and some Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui (a traditional Chinese medicine for heat - stroke prevention)."

"..."

Aria was actually a bit speechless.

She wasn't new to military training. She felt that this guy was treating her like a child.

But then she thought that Ryder had specifically told her so many things, which was clearly out of concern, and she felt excited again.

She obediently agreed to everything he said.

Finally, when he saw that he had reminded her of everything, he nodded and casually urged her, "All right, go back quickly. Don't stay up late."

When she returned to the dormitory, Olivia was still out with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was also a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and they both got into Harvard University. Their relationship was as close as glue.

The other two were in the dormitory.

Sophie was lying on the bed playing games. When Oli saw her come back, she stuck her head out from the bed and pointed in the direction of the table.

"You're back. There's some food left for you over there. Hurry up and eat it. If you're any later, Sophie will gobble it all up."

"Really?" Aria smiled and looked at Sophie.

Upon hearing this, Sophie unceremoniously rolled her eyes at Oli. "Ri - Ri, don't listen to her nonsense. Come on, I'm a beautiful girl! I measure my food intake by the gram."

Aria couldn't stop laughing.

"Measuring by the gram, several kilograms?"

Sophie got angry. "..."

After chatting and joking for a while, Aria took out a nightgown from the wardrobe and went to take a bath. Recalling today's experiences, she curved her lips, and the corners of her eyebrows also turned up, filled with a smile.

In the memories with Ryder, even the air seemed to be sweet.

Her eyes slightly shifted. Through the water vapor, she saw her blurry reflection in the mirror, that sweet smile like smeared with honey.

She was stunned herself.

In the darkness, the boy's words, softly whispered by her ear, "I'll protect you," with a low and hoarse voice, echoed in her ears. Aria suddenly covered her face.

She squatted down, lowered her head, her slender and fair nape exposed, with only a pair of almost - red - through ear tips, revealing the girl's secret thoughts.

And the fact that he casually denied having a girlfriend.

Today was really a wonderful day.

Even after everything was sorted out and she lay in bed, Aria absent - mindedly looked at her phone, but her mind was still in a daze.

Those scenes kept playing back and forth in her head.

And the consequence of this was - - he was in her dreams.

Aria actually seldom had such dreams.

She had many dreams, all kinds of strange ones. They might be about ghosts, plots from storybooks, or about missing an exam or failing the college entrance examination.

There were two people she rarely dreamed of.

One was her mother, and the other was Ryder.

Aria's mother passed away when she was fourteen, in her third year of junior high school. She was once devastated, feeling that the sky had fallen.

Her feelings for Ryder also completely changed during that period.

Before that, Ryder was just an outstanding boy to her, shining under the national flag, and looking incredibly cool when he fought with others, being so unruly.

But these were not the reasons she fell in love with him.

Her attention to him started out of curiosity.

After all, sometimes the development of feelings only takes a moment. Maybe it was when she was casually complaining to someone, and he happened to pass by and called out to her lazily.

"Little classmate."

Aria subconsciously turned her head and was stunned by his smiling and teasing look.

He smiled casually, raised his chin, and playfully reminded, "Keep your voice down. The dean is right behind you."

Before the girl could come to her senses, he disappeared with his friends. And the grade dean was walking slowly not far away. Her heart started pounding wildly for no reason.

The young man's unrestrained smile seemed to still be in front of her eyes.

But she had fallen head over heels in love with him without even realizing it.