My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 160: Why Are You Hiding

Caleb Rhodes’s heart sank slightly. He forced her chin up. "Why are you avoiding me?"

Nina Wynn pried his hand away, her eyelashes lowered. "Caleb Rhodes, it hurts. It really hurts."

The shadows of the trees were mottled, and the light was dim, making it impossible to see the look in her eyes. All he could hear was her soft, small voice, as if she were begging for mercy. "Can we not kiss today? It hurts so much..."

’Don’t kiss me on this street. I don’t want to have any unpleasant things mixed in when I remember this street.’

Caleb Rhodes let her go. "Which restaurant do you want to eat at?"

Nina Wynn kept her eyes downcast, gently stroking the drink bottle in her hands as she said softly, "It’s not a very nice restaurant. If you don’t want to go, we don’t have to."

It was a restaurant she and Evan Chapman used to go to often. After what had just happened, she was now a little worried the owner would recognize her again.

’Now that I’ve bought Evan Chapman’s favorite drink, it’s almost like we’ve had a meal together.’ 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

But surprisingly, Caleb Rhodes answered quickly, "Which one?"

Nina Wynn was a bit surprised. She thought for a moment before saying, "Let’s not go, after all. I don’t really feel like eating there that much anymore."

Caleb Rhodes tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Which one?"

Nina Wynn looked ahead and saw that the large pagoda tree on the corner was still there.

She couldn’t help but remember how she used to love waiting for Evan Chapman in that spot. She seemed a bit dazed. "It’s in the alley around the corner. Your car is a little too big to drive in there."

"Let’s just not go. Let’s go back."

Caleb Rhodes got out of the car, took a cashmere scarf from the trunk, and tied it around Nina Wynn’s neck. He then turned up his own collar. "Let’s walk."

As he spoke, he took Nina Wynn’s hand and tucked it into his overcoat pocket.

This street was about thirty or forty years old, and the pavement was a bit worn.

With the rain still falling, the road was wet and slippery, making it difficult to walk.

Nina Wynn took a few steps and saw that the hem of Caleb Rhodes’s coat and his pant cuffs were already splattered with a bit of mud.

She stopped and turned her face away. "Let’s not go. This place doesn’t suit you."

In her memory, Caleb Rhodes was always immaculate and distinguished. Even on nights with torrential downpours, she had never seen even a speck of mud on his shoes.

Such a dilapidated street and its small shops were completely at odds with him. In the dim light of the evening, he stood out even more.

Yes, he was truly too conspicuous. So conspicuous that just by standing next to him, she couldn’t help but be noticed.

’I just wanted to come back for a quiet visit. I didn’t want to attract anyone’s attention, and I especially didn’t want any old acquaintances to recognize me.’

Just then, a young couple walked past them.

The weather was cold and the road was slippery, so the boy was giving the girl a piggyback ride. The girl was holding a cup of milk tea and let the boy take a sip.

The boy commented that the fruit pulp was good, and the girl playfully complained that he shouldn’t have eaten her fruit pulp.

Caleb Rhodes glanced at the young couple, then suddenly lifted Nina Wynn and set her down on a streetside bench. He adjusted her scarf and looked at her. "Do you want me to carry you on my back?"

Nina Wynn didn’t know what he was planning to do until she saw the couple up ahead and understood.

Her heart skipped an uncontrollable beat, and she suddenly felt her face flush. She quickly shook her head. "No, don’t."

Caleb Rhodes looked at the young couple again, just in time to see the girl sneaking a kiss on the boy.

A flicker of understanding crossed his eyes, and he said in a low voice, "I should carry you. It seems to be what people do when they’re dating."

For a moment, Nina Wynn didn’t know what to say. She felt nervous and a little awkward.

She clutched the hem of her coat and said softly with her head down, "No, people will laugh."

The dim streetlights made her small face seem all the more hazy and delicate. From Caleb Rhodes’s angle, he had a perfect view of her tender lips, her soft, curled eyelashes, and the soft strands of hair that hung down.

He suddenly felt a pang of regret.

’If only he could turn back time and give her a sweet, innocent, and wonderful first love when she was young. That would have been nice.’

’He had missed far too much. Now, even if he wanted to make up for it, it seemed too late.’

He squeezed her small hand and said in a deep voice, "What’s there to laugh at? If they can do it, why can’t we?"

With that, he took the hem of his overcoat, wiped the mud from her small leather boots, and then turned around. "Get on!"

Nina Wynn felt her ears burn, her heart a mix of resistance and complex emotions.

’This street belongs to her and Evan Chapman. She didn’t want to be entangled with Caleb Rhodes here, nor did she want him to be part of her memories of this street.’

’She was someone who was going to leave, someone with no tomorrow. She didn’t want to take too many memories with her.’

At this thought, she glanced at the pagoda tree and said in a small voice, "Can you carry me after we pass that spot?"

Caleb Rhodes found her behavior a bit strange. He frowned, his voice tinged with displeasure. "Then I’ll just carry you in my arms."

Without waiting for her to agree, he forcefully scooped her up, letting her sit in the crook of his right arm.

He was tall and imposing, while she was delicate and small. Being held like this, the contrast was as stark as if he were holding a small pet.

Even though the light was dim, Nina Wynn felt like everyone was staring at her. She hurriedly buried her face in his shoulder, not daring to look up.

Her ears seemed to be burning!

Caleb Rhodes was tall with long legs, and he covered the distance in no time.

When they reached the corner, he set her down on a long bench by the road and had her climb onto his back.

This time, she obediently clambered on.

His back was broad and flat. As she lay on it, she had a strange illusion.

’She felt that Caleb Rhodes could actually be someone to rely on.’

As they passed a clothing store, she caught a glimpse of Caleb Rhodes’s reflection in the window.

Young, tall, and strikingly handsome.

She suddenly realized that Caleb Rhodes was actually only twenty-eight years old—still a young man.

But in her subconscious, she had always seemed to think of him as a very mature man, at least in his thirties or forties.

Because from the first time she saw him, he had been a presence in her mind as solid and dependable as a great tree or a massive mountain—the kind of person everyone wanted to lean on.

In truth, every time she saw other girls being carried on their father’s or boyfriend’s back, she had felt a twinge of envy, fantasizing about having a great tree of her own to rely on.

Today, that wish had come true, but the person giving her that support was Caleb Rhodes—Crystal Rhodes’s uncle, a member of the Rhodes Family, a man inextricably linked to Evan Chapman’s death.

’She didn’t dare to ask for the support he offered, nor did she dare to accept anything he gave!’

She closed her eyes, not daring to look at his reflection anymore.

Caleb Rhodes also saw the reflection of himself and Nina Wynn in the glass.

She was so obedient and quiet on his back, clinging to him so tightly it made him feel as if he were her entire world.

’This was the kind of intimacy he wanted.’

At that moment, Caleb Rhodes had no idea what this image would come to mean to him.

In the thousands of days and nights that were to come, he would desperately cling to this one meager memory to survive countless unbearable, heart-wrenching, and endless nights.

They soon arrived at the entrance of the restaurant Nina Wynn had mentioned.

It was a small restaurant, not very big, but the decor had been updated. Thankfully, the owner was still the same, and it seemed no one recognized Nina Wynn.

Nina Wynn breathed a sigh of relief.

She picked up the menu and was about to order when a familiar voice came from the entrance, "Proprietor, the usual spot, a table for two!"