Touch Me Not

by Apryl Baker

  Luther found the first race thanks to a buddy he played Call of Duty with online. The entry fee had been harsh, three thousand dollars. They bankrupted their savings and begged and borrowed from everyone they knew. Luther’s dad donated a thousand, as had Nikoli’s uncle. They’d driven down to Miami and won that first race, and came away thirty thousand dollars richer.

  All they’d told Luther’s dad and Nikoli’s uncle was the money came from an investor who believed in the game. After that, Nikoli’s uncle had gotten them in touch with the right people, and their game had gone into production. They’d hired a business manager and a marketing manager who’d made deals with all the major players in the world of video games. A year later, that thirty thousand dollars turned into three million. After that, it’d just 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 computer.

  “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 then 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 that 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, as I already told you,” she said. “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…”

  “Lils, I’m just worried about you.” Adam sighed. “I know Kincaid. He’s a douche with only one thing on his mind.”

  “I’m perfectly aware of that.” He had no right to call her and start trying to dictate what she could and couldn’t do. He was her best friend, but she was not his sister or his girlfriend. It was about time he figured that out. It’s not like he had time for her anymore either. She’d agreed to go out with Nikoli more because she was mad at Adam than anything else. He’d blown her off one too many times for Sue, and today’s latest ditching session had grated more than she’d realized.

  “Then why the hell did you agree to go out with him?” Adam exploded.

  “Because I wanted to.” She could hear the irritation in her own voice, but she didn’t care.

  “Lily, there are things you don’t know,” Adam stressed, “rumors about the kind of stuff he’s into…”

  “Adam, I am not having this conversation with you,” she interrupted him.

  “Well, you obviously need to have it with someone!” He paused to speak to someone in the background, and Lily heard him mumble Sue’s name. She groaned inwardly. He was talking about this with her there? Lily’s face flamed up, and she felt mortified.

  “Look, I gotta go,” she said. “People are lining up outside, and I have to give them the speech.”

  “Lily, this conversation isn’t over,” he warned. “You are way out of his league…”

  “I’m not good enough for him?” she shouted into the phone. “And why exactly is that, Adam? Am I not as pretty as some of his girls? Am I too boring? Too lame? What? Explain it to me.” Her voice had gone softer with each word.

  Complete silence greeted her. He knew exactly how pissed she was in that moment.

  “I’m waiting, Adam.”

  She heard him take a deep breath. “That’s not what I meant, Lily.”

  “No?” she asked softly. “I hate to break this to you, Adam, but just because you don’t see me, doesn’t mean other people don’t. Now if you’ll excuse me, I don’t have time to listen to you piss and moan about something that is none of your damn business!”

  She ended the call and threw the phone on her bed. Honest to God, he confused her sometimes. Like just then, he got all jealous and territorial, but other times, it was like she wasn’t even there. It could be the big brother complex he had, but that tiny spark of hope inside of her jumped up and down. Maybe he was jealous. In the end, it didn’t matter, though. He’d never seen what had always been in front of him, and he never would.

  She had to get over it. Adam and Sue were getting married, and she needed to accept it. Once she graduated, she could move to New York and forget all about her problems. If Adam wasn’t in her face twenty-four-seven, she might be able to mend her broken heart.

  A loud knock on her door interrupted her silent frustration. One of her returning girls from last year stood in the doorway, twisting her hands. Something was up.

  “Mandy, what’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

/>   “It’s Stephanie,” she said. “Something’s wrong. She’s in our room crying, and I can’t get her to tell me why.”

  With a sigh, Lily closed her door and followed Mandy down the hall to the room she shared with Stephanie. They were sophomores this year, and Lily tended to look out for them. Both were young and had made a lot of bad judgment calls last year. She’d even had to bust them once for drinking in their rooms. God only knew what Steph had done now.

  The girl in question was curled up on her bed, her old stuffed bear held tightly against her chest as she sobbed brokenly. Her blonde hair was matted to her head and her dress wrinkled.

  “What’s wrong, honey?” she asked, sitting down next to the girl.

  “Go away,” she cried. “I’m too ashamed to talk about it.”

  Lily’s instincts went on alert. “Did someone do something to you, Stephanie?”

  She hiccupped and nodded her head. “I was so stupid, Lily. I knew better, and I did it anyway, thinking it’d be different with me. That he couldn’t be as bad as everyone said he was.”

  Lily’s gut clenched. She had a feeling she knew exactly what happened. “Tell me,” she said slowly.

  “I was going to eat lunch and he caught me before I went in.” She sniffled. “I couldn’t help it, I wanted to say no, really I did, but ohmygod, he’s so hot.”

  “Nikoli Kincaid?” Lily asked, resigned.

  Stephanie nodded. “Yeah. After, he just threw my dress at me and left. His friend told me to leave and not bother leaving my phone number. I’m so stupid, Lily. Why did I think I could make him look at me any differently? I know his reputation.”

  Lily sighed. She’d heard all this before. “Every girl thinks that, Steph. They all think they’ll be the one to finally catch and hold his attention for more than a couple hours.”

  “It wasn’t even that long,” she said forlornly. “It was only an hour, and he didn’t even bother to say good-bye. He had his friend throw me out.”

  “Just check it off your bucket list,” Lily told her. “You had sex with BU’s very own manwhore. Everyone else has, so why not you?”

  That caused Stephanie to giggle. “He is hot, and the sex was really great.”

  “See, it’s not the end of the world, is it? Now you know what all the hype was about, and you can go on and find a nice guy this semester to fall for, yeah?”

  Stephanie smiled before lunging up to hug Lily, who went completely still, fighting the scream that rose in her throat. “You’re the best, Lily. I’m glad you’re our dorm mom!”

  “Just promise me you two won’t have any more beer parties this year, please.” She gave Stephanie a strained smile and disentangled herself as fast as she could. She winced at the conspiratorial look Stephanie and Mandy gave each other. Dear God, they were going to give her white hairs before she was even twenty-two.

  “We promise to try to behave as long as it doesn’t get in the way of our fun.” Mandy gave Lily a grin and pulled Stephanie to her feet. “Come on, Steph, you need to wash your face before we join everyone.”

  Lily sighed and followed them out. They were good girls, just a little too mischievous for their own good. And they did ridiculously stupid things in the name of fun, like having sex with the slutty manwhore.

  She and Nikoli had a lot of things to talk about, and if he had any thoughts of seducing her, they’d die as soon as she told him in no uncertain terms she’d never be a throwaway he forgot in less than five minutes. She refused to be the one on the bed crying because she let her guard down.

  No way in hell was she sleeping with him. He just didn’t know it yet.

  Chapter Five

  Lily glanced at herself in the mirror and grinned. Worn, baggy jeans and one of Adam’s jerseys over her black tank top was probably not what Nikoli had in mind when he asked her to dinner. Comfortable sandals completed her outfit, her toes shining from the pink nail polish she’d put on yesterday. Nikoli probably expected a dress and heels. She pulled her hair back in pigtails and then slipped on her 1950’s style black rimmed glasses. She screamed nerdy geek going to a high school football pep rally. So not Nikoli’s style.

  “Well, you certainly aren’t going to inspire any lustful thoughts.” Janet laughed from the open doorway of Lily’s room.

  “My point,” Lily said with a grin. “Plus, I’m going prepared to wage war.”

  Janet arched a brow in question.

  “You remember Stephanie and Amanda from last year? The ones who had the beer party that nearly got us all kicked out?”

  Janet laughed. “Oh, yeah, I don’t think I’d ever seen you that mad.”

  “Well, seems our boy accosted Stephanie and left her in tears.” Lily shook her head. “Why will they never learn? Women are just his toy of the hour.”

  “He’s too pretty for his own good,” Janet agreed. “I love Mike dearly, but if Nikoli gave me one of those sex filled stares of his…” She shrugged. “I don’t know what I’d do, honestly. I know how bad that sounds, but he is just one of those men…”

  Lily sighed. Nikoli was a man who could potentially destroy a woman without a second thought and she’d go into it with her eyes wide open. He never gave them any expectations. They did bring it all on themselves.

  “Speaking of Mike, he said Adam put his foot in his mouth.”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he went into over-protective big brother mode and tried to forbid me from going out with the manwhore.”

  “Oh, God, I never thought about him like that,” Janet giggled. “Now every time I hear his name, I’m going to think manwhore.”

  Lily laughed herself. “Just imagine it…Nikoli dressed in black strappy heels, a mini-skirt, and a slutty top, hooking on the corner.”

  “Stop,” Janet gasped between laughs. “That image is going to stay with me now, damn you! How am I supposed to indulge in sex fantasies about him if I keep seeing him posed on a street corner in trashy prostitute gear?”

  Lily performed a mock bow. “My job is done, and the only man you’ll be having sex fantasies about is Mikey.”

  Janet took several deep breaths and then walked over to Lily’s bed and collapsed. “I needed that laugh. Mike has been grumpy all week.”

  “Everything okay?” Lily asked and started cleaning up the nail polish she’d left scattered on her desk.

  “I think so.” Janet frowned. “He’s being very secretive. I’d almost think he was cheating if I didn’t know him better.”

  “Cheat?” Lily turned and looked at Janet. “Mike wouldn’t do that to you, Jan. He respects you too much. He’d break up with you before he went out with someone else.”

  “I guess.” She sighed.

  “I know,” Lily said firmly. “Trust me. He loves you. When you broke up with him last year, I got the full-on Mike meltdown. If you’d seen what that did to him, you’d never doubt him again.”

  “I’m surprised he didn’t go cry on Adam’s shoulder,” Janet said ruefully.

  “Oh, he went there first,” Lily confessed, “but Adam and Sue had just gotten engaged the week before, if you’ll remember. Not the best place for poor, jilted Mikey to get some sympathy. Besides, he and I bonded over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

  “So is that what you guys did that whole week?” Janet asked, curious.

  “I supplied him with beer, chips, and cartoons.” Lily smiled. “Then he got drunk, laughed at Michelangelo and Donatello, and told me all about why you broke up with him, how much of a jerk he was, and his cockamamie scheme to win you back.”

  “Which consisted of him storming the sorority house drunk, busting out his Ninja Turtle moves, and confessing his undying love for me.” Janet giggled. “He promised to try not to be such a jerk, emphasis on the word try.”

  “Mikey’s a good guy,” Lily said.

  “He is,” Janet agreed and flopped over on her side. “Why are you going out with Nikoli, anyway? Adam is really freaking out.”

  Whiplash on the subject change,
Lily thought to herself. “He said if I went to dinner with him, he’d leave me alone for the rest of the year. Apparently he thinks a little alone time with me will be all he needs to charm his way into my panties. And Adam can go piss off. This is none of his business.”

  “He’s only worried about you, Lils,” Janet said softly. “He’s over at the frat house beating himself up right now because he thinks he hurt you with some idiot thing he said.”

  Lily sighed. “Did he send you over here to try and get me to cancel my date?”

  “Maybe,” Janet hedged.

  “No offense, Jan, but…butt out,” Lily told her friend. “Adam has no right sending you over here to try and do what he couldn’t.”

  “What was the idiotic thing he said, anyway?” Janet asked.

  “Didn’t tell you that, did he?” Lily bit out. “He insinuated that I’m not good enough for Nikoli, that I’m too far out of his league to ever even catch his eye.”

  “Well, dressed like that…” Janet grinned.

  “Shut it,” Lily snapped. “I don’t need you reminding me I’m not worth his time too.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” Janet sat up. “Lily, if anything, you’re too good for the manwhore. He doesn’t deserve anyone like you. I’m sure Adam didn’t mean…”

  “Can we not talk about Adam?” Lily asked, tired all of a sudden. “For once, I’d just like to forget Adam exists and have some fun.”

  Janet gave her the pitying look Lily hated with all her heart. Mikey knew how she felt about Adam, and Janet knew because Mikey knew. Why the hell had she let herself get drunk and confess to Mikey she was in love with Adam?

  “Look, I just want to get this over with. He should be here in a minute. I told him I’d meet him out front. You can tell Adam to mind his own damn business.”

  Lily grabbed her purse and pointed to the door. Janet frowned, but followed Lily out the door. “Want to come wait with me so you can see his face when he gets a load of this?”