Page 9 of Touch Me Not (Manwhore #1)

CHAPTER EIGHT

After dropping a shell-shocked Lily off at her dorm, Nikoli drove back to his apartment.

The lights were on, so he assumed Luther was home.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he geared up for the ribbing he was in for.

He’d gone to dinner expecting to have Lily for dessert, and now he had to face Luther’s laughter.

Not that he was in the mood to listen to Luther crow. He couldn’t really put his finger on how he felt at the moment, though. Lily had thrown him from the minute he met her, and she continued to keep him off balance with every moment spent with her.

He regretted his offer to help her now, in hindsight.

What if he didn’t have the patience to do what needed to be done?

The problem was he wanted to help her. Those blue eyes of hers haunted him when he remembered the terror and the panic in them.

Something bad had happened to her, and the experience scared her so badly she couldn’t bear to be touched by anyone.

Someone as beautiful and innocent as Lily shouldn’t be afraid.

People loved her, which told him she was special and had a huge heart.

His mother would adore her. Which only served to terrify him more.

Manwhore. He shook his head. He had no idea people thought of him like that.

Sure, he’d slept with a lot of women, but not nearly as many as everyone believed.

He heard girls bragging about sleeping with him who he’d never touched and had no plans of ever getting naked with.

He just never bothered to correct the tall tales and rumors.

It only enhanced his reputation. Or so he’d thought.

Instead, it made him appear like the male slut of Boston University.

There were reasons he didn’t attach himself to anyone.

He and Luther worked hard to make sure no one knew they were millionaires.

There were several who did know, but they were the ones who read the gaming magazines or the magazines like People and Time that had interviewed them before.

Most of the BU population read magazines specializing in celebrity lives.

Nikoli didn’t want a woman clinging to him for his money. When he decided to settle down with one woman, he’d damn well make sure it was for him and not the millions sitting in his bank account. He was so paranoid about it he refused to go past a single encounter with anyone.

Luther sat glued to the TV playing Call of Duty when Nikoli opened the door.

Why Luther loved that game, Nikoli had no idea.

He’d played it and won and never had the urge to play again.

He’d rather spend time working on their new zombie game, one that would make the Resident Evil franchise look like child’s play.

They’d employed a graphics team to design the game to look as real as possible.

He and Luther were the only ones working on the coding, however.

It was groundbreaking work, and they were keeping it as hush-hush as possible.

“No, no, no, no…dammit!”

Nikoli glanced at the TV to see Luther had been the victim of a sneak attack and was now cussing enough to make even him raise his eyebrows.

It wasn’t until Nikoli heard him muttering about a grand that he understood the outburst. Luther had money riding on the game.

Whoever had taken him out must be very good.

Nikoli never bet against Luther in gaming.

“Bad luck, there, man.” Nikoli tossed Luther a beer. “You going for a rematch?”

“No,” he snarled. “Little fucker refused. He knows he’ll lose.”

Nikoli held back his laughter and joined Luther on the couch. He cracked open his beer and took a long draw from the bottle. Ah, he’d needed that.

“So,” Luther drawled. “How did your… date …go?”

“We talked.”

“Talked?” Luther’s eyebrows shot up. “Just…talked?”

“Do people really call me the manwhore of BU?” he asked instead of answering.

Luther nodded. “You hadn’t heard that before?”

“No, and it was a little disconcerting to hear. I am not a whore. I don’t sleep with every single woman I meet. I enjoy sex, and I won’t apologize for that, but I am not near as bad as Lily said.”

“Well, you do have a reputation that’s spread like wildfire through the female population. It’s made you into a bit of a celebrity.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it.” Nikoli took another swig of his beer.

“I’m not.” Luther shook his head. “You’re an icon. Every woman on campus wants to mark you off her bucket list.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel any better,” Nikoli muttered.

“What are we gonna do since you struck out with Lily?” Luther asked, his face deceptively blank. “Wanna head over to T’s Pub? I think everyone else is either over at Jillian’s or The White Horse.”

Nikoli’s eyes narrowed. Why was Luther suggesting they stay away from everyone?

“I mean, it’s obvious you had an epic failure with Lily,” Luther continued. “I’m sure you don’t want to listen to every guy we know go on and on and on about it…”

“Not a problem.” Nikoli stared pointedly at his friend. “If that were to happen with any guy we know, I’d beat him to within an inch of his life.”

The grin slid from Luther’s face, and he beat a hasty retreat to the fridge for more beers. “At least you’re giving up on Lily and…”

“Who said I was giving up on Lily?” Nikoli savored the jaw drop currently on Luther’s face.

“But…but…you came home alone!” Luther stammered, slamming the fridge door.

“Yeah, so?”

Luther snapped his mouth shut and glared. “You can’t do this. She’s not a girl you fuck with. She’s too nice. I swear to God, you hurt her, me and you, we’ll have a problem.”

Nikoli’s stared at his best friend, dumbfounded. He’d heard Luther talk about Lily before. She’d helped him out in one of his English classes he’d been failing. Nik had no idea Luther was this protective of her, though.

“Calm the fuck down and stop acting like an outraged woman. You look like your sister when you do that.” Nikoli cackled when Luther’s glare got hotter. He loved riling him up sometimes. “You’ve got it all wrong. Lily and I came to a mutual agreement.”

“What kind of agreement?” Luther asked suspiciously.

“She’s in love with Boy Wonder,” Nik told him, disgusted. “He’s marrying the blonde. I promised to help her win over Boy Wonder if she agreed I could try to seduce her.”

“And she agreed to that stupidity?” Luther barked.

“Not yet,” Nikoli admitted. “I took her home and told her to think about it. If she stands a chance of stealing Boy Wonder, she has to get over her fears, and I can help her with that. Deep down, she knows she needs help, and she’ll agree.”

“Fears?” Luther asked, curious.

Nik debated with how much he should tell Luther, but Lily would be spending a lot of time here as well as his other apartment. Luther needed to know her boundaries if she was ever going to be comfortable around him.

“Lily has a phobia,” he said at last. “I’m only telling you because you need to know so you don’t do something to send her running. If she finds out I told you, she’ll beat me bloody. Or sic the football team on me.”

“Now I’m really curious.” Luther tossed Nik a bottle of water as he sat down. “What? We’re out of beer. Water won’t kill you.”

Nikoli grunted. Truth was neither he nor Luther were big drinkers.

They could drink with the best of them, but they both agreed after the epic car crash of 2018, they’d keep their drinking to a manageable level.

They’d gone out drinking with a buddy, and on the way home, they’d crashed the car.

Their friend, who’d been driving, died. After that, Nikoli and Luther refused to drink and drive or get into a vehicle with a driver who’d been drinking.

“She doesn’t like to be touched,” Nikoli said. “That’s our biggest problem. If I can’t touch her, I stand zero chance of getting her in my bed. If she can’t learn to tolerate someone touching her, she stands zero chance of stealing Boy Wonder, who is a touchy-feely person.”

“Well, damn.” Luther whistled, his expression thoughtful. “That explains a lot. So, what kind of agreement did you two come to?”

“I’m willing to help her get past her phobia and make Boy Wonder jealous if she agrees to my price.”

“And what price is that?” Luther was back to being suspicious.

“I get the chance to seduce her, and she gets Boy Wonder.” Nikoli swallowed the rest of his beer then broke open the water. “It’s a win-win.”

“Until you break her heart,” Luther growled. “Lily’s not…”

“Dammit, Luther, shut the hell up!” Nikoli exploded. “I’m tired of hearing everyone warn me off her. She’s just a chick!”

Luther’s mouth worked furiously before he snapped it closed. A slow grin spread across his face, and Nikoli’s frown deepened.

“I take it back,” Luther said. “I think this is the best damn idea you’ve ever had.”

Something was definitely up, Nikoli just wasn’t sure what. “Why are you grinning like an idiot?”

“Because you’re never going to see it until it’s too late,” Luther said. “Lily is the best thing that’ll ever happen to you, but by the time you figure it out, she’ll be gone.”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Nikoli denied, even though he knew Luther was probably right. Lily Holmes terrified him on the most basic level.

“We’ll see.” Luther grinned. “Come on, let’s get out of here. The White Horse or T’s?”

“T’s,” Nikoli told him. “I’m not in the mood for trendy. I need a bar tonight.”

Luther didn’t say a word. He just held the door open and grinned like the idiot Nikoli labeled him. Nik grumbled and headed out. Tonight, he needed some stiff whiskey. Lily Holmes wasn’t even his yet, and she was already driving him to drink. Just what the fuck had he gotten himself into?