Touch Me Not (Manwhore, #1)(48)

“She’s my best friend.” The anger rolled off Adam in waves.

“Then why the f*ck would you do that?” Nikoli exploded. “You know how she is.”

“I’ve seen you touch her,” Adam said through clenched teeth. “I thought she was okay, that she was better…”

“She’s not better!” Nikoli interrupted. “She only lets me touch her because she trusts me.”

“And she doesn’t trust me?” Adam shouted.

“Obviously not,” Nikoli yelled over Mike’s shoulder.

“Calm the f*ck down!” Luther intervened before Adam could say anything. “It was a mistake. Let’s all just calm down and move on.”

Nikoli snapped his mouth shut, his fist needing to hit something, Boy Wonder’s face his first choice. Luther was right, though. As angry as Lily was with Adam, she did love him. He’d been her best friend since she was a little girl. For that reason, he wouldn’t screw his face up.

“Stay the f*ck away from her,” he warned, his voice hard. “She needs to heal, and she can’t do that with you acting like a jealous fool.”

“I’m not jealous of you,” Adam denied hotly.

“You’re acting like a jealous ass, Adam,” Mike piped in.

Adam shot him a glare, but kept his mouth shut.

“I’m taking Lily to eat to try and calm her down,” he said and turned to go back inside. “Mike, keep him the hell away from me and from Lily, or I won’t be held responsible for what happens to him.”

He left them with that and went to check on Lily.

***

Joe’s was packed as always, but he managed to squeeze them into a booth near the back. It was a little more private than some of the tables where they’d been seated when they came here, and Lily was grateful. She wasn’t up to having everyone stare at her. The lighting back here was dimmer, so it was a little harder for people to see her splotched face.

She looked around and settled into the booth. The warmth of the place always relaxed her. The warm tones of the wood and the subtle touches of the Cuban culture gave the place a relaxed, fun feel. Joe’s booming voice as he greeted people made her smile. He’d taken one look at her and leveled a baleful expression at Nikoli, who just shook his head and demanded a table.

“Tell me about Joe,” she said softly, watching him move around the restaurant.

“What about him?”

“How do you know him?”

“I eat here,” he said, his eyes not meeting hers.

She gave him a “duh” look. “Yes, but how do you know him?”

He didn’t want to get into this, at least not tonight. It might scare her. Not that he was hardcore into the lifestyle or anything, but she’d had enough of a scare already. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” she told him. “I remember the first time we were here, the two of you seemed so…territorial almost. It made me curious.”

“Joe took me under his wing when I first came to Boston,” he said after a minute. Lily was going to keep asking, might as well tell her. “He and I share the same kind of needs in the bedroom.”

“Oh my God, you’re bisexual!” She clapped a hand over her mouth, her expression so shocked it would have been funny if she hadn’t been staring at him, a little horrified.

“No. I. Am. Not!” Nikoli spewed the words.

She just stared at him, eyes wide. “It’s fine if you are, Nikoli.”

“Of course it would be fine,” he said, his voice low. “There’s nothing wrong with it, but I’m not into guys.”

“Hmmm…”

“Look, I’m serious, Lily. If anyone wants to make that life choice, that’s their call. My brother Connor is bisexual, so trust me, I’m fine with anyone who makes that choice. It’s just not one I’d make.”

Wow. Lily hadn’t expected that. Or that he’d be so Zen about it either. “That’s cool your family supports his choice.”

“I didn’t say that,” he said, a wry smile decorating his face. “My brothers and I are close, and while all of us may not agree with his choices, we do support it. My parents and my grandparents? They were all raised Catholic, and if they knew about Conner’s choice of partners, they wouldn’t be so happy.”

“I know you said you supported him, but how do you feel about it?” She was curious. He’d sounded so outraged when she’d accused him of being bisexual.

“He’s my brother,” he said after a minute. “I want him to be happy, and it doesn’t matter to me who he’s with, as long as he’s happy. Right now he’s in a relationship with a girl, but who knows, a couple months from now he might be banging some dude. What do I care, as long as my brother is happy?”

Here was another facet to the manwhore she never suspected might exist buried under that f*ck you attitude. He just kept surprising her.

The smile that broke across Lily’s face made him stop breathing. Her entire face lit up like an angel shining her grace upon him.

“So back to Joe,” she said, her smile still in place. “Where did you two meet? Here at the restaurant?”

“No, I met him at Bastian’s,” he continued. “It’s a sex club.”