Page 8 of Touch Me Not: Anniversary Edition

After that, it’d been an upward climb. The two of them owed no money to anyone and were able to bankroll any new projects by winning races. Eventually, they’d give it up, but not for a while yet. Luther loved working on the cars, and Nikoli loved racing them. Perfect relationship.

“Show me the car.” Nikoli grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat down on the bar stool next to where Luther was engrossed in the laptop.

“Dude’s selling it on eBay,” Luther said with a laugh. “Stupid.”

Nikoli let out a low whistle when the car’s specs came up. Stupid wasn’t the word—“fucked-up insane” better described the ass selling it. The original 351 motor had been replaced with a 428 bored-out big block. Custom three-inch dual exhausts with Flowmaster mufflers, Offenhauser Port O Sonic intake manifold, Barry Grant 1000 CFM Silver Claw carburetor, and the list just went on and on. This car was still street legal, but it had the heart and soul of a racer under the hood. They would have to do very little to it.

“Email the seller. Offer him twice what he wants for it, and we’ll pick it up tomorrow, cash in hand,” Nikoli said, his eyes gleaming as he finished reading all the specs. “He’s a first-class dumbass. There’s no way he built this car just to sell it for not even a tenth of what it’s worth.”

Luther snorted before checking his phone. His brow furrowed, and then he looked at Nikoli, perplexed. “What the hell? Is it true?”

“Is what true?” Nikoli asked, not really paying attention. He was still too focused on the car. The deep burgundy color set off the chrome nearly as well as black could.

“Did you ask Lily Holmes on a date?”

Nikoli’s head snapped around. How the hell did Luther know? “Who told you that?”

“Mac just texted asking if it’s true.”

“It’s not a date.”

“So, you didn’t ask her to dinner?” Luther frowned at him then looked back down to his phone.

“Well, yeah, I did, but…”

“Then it is a date,” Luther crowed and burst out laughing. “Oh, God, I never thought I’d see the day when Nikoli Kincaid had to resort to asking a girl out on a real live date.”

“Do you want a beating?” Nikoli growled. How in holy hell did the fact he asked Lily to dinner get out? “Tell Mac to shut his mouth or I’ll shut it for him.”

Luther wheezed he was laughing so hard, and all it managed to do was piss Nikoli off even more. He swung, and his fist collided with Luther’s face. He went down, cussing a blue streak.

“What the hell, man?”

“This is not funny,” he bit out. “I can’t handle her like I do everyone else. She isn’t falling for it. If I have to take her to dinner to get her naked, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“Whatever you say.” Luther laughed. “I told you to leave her alone. If you don’t listen, then I am going to enjoy every minute of your domestication.”

“That just ain’t right, man.” Nikoli glared down at his friend before extending a hand. “Nikoli Kincaid doesn’t do domestication. Never have, never will.”

“Whatever you say.” Luther chuckled and sat back down at the computer. “Whatever you say.”

Nikoli gave Luther one last glare and stomped out of the room. No way in hell would he ever be domesticated.

~*~

“You did what?”

Lily winced and held the phone away from her ear. How did Adam find out she’d agreed to go out with Nikoli? Less than two hours had gone by, and he was shouting from her phone.

“It’s not a big deal,” she murmured while she unpacked the groceries she’d bought at the market. Cereal, milk, pop, and some snacks had her set. Her little mini fridge was overflowing with cans of Coke and bottles of water.

“Not big a deal?” She could hear the frustration in his voice. “Lily, this is Nikoli Kincaid we’re talking about. Do you even know who he is?”

“Yes, Adam, I know very well who he is. I’m not stupid.”

“Right now, I’m not so sure about that,” he snapped.

She pulled the phone away and glared at it, imagining Adam’s head.How dare he?“Did you call just to insult me?” she demanded. “Because if you did…”

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