Page 20 of Touch Me Not

“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 amnota 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 beatmebloody. 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?”

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