Touch Me Not (Manwhore, #1)(50)

Nikoli frowned and took a bite of the rich stew himself. It was delicious, but no sooner had he swallowed than the fire ripped through his mouth. He glanced at Lily and saw her taking another bite. She hadn’t touched her drink or her milk. He turned a suspicious look on Joe. Had the man added more chilies to his bowl than he had Lily’s?

“Something wrong, Nikoli?” Lily looked up and watched him curiously.

He shook his head, refusing to admit he couldn’t handle the stew when Lily was scooping the shit up like it was ice cream. His brothers would never let him live it down if they found out about this. Damn Joe and his spicy Cuban food.

Once Joe left, Nikoli took a small sip of the cold milk. Lily picked up her glass of cherry Dr. Pepper. Nikoli had asked Joe to stock it for her, and the man had complied readily. Lily ate here a lot, more than even Nikoli did.

“So now, my little prude,” Nikoli said, deciding to rankle her, “where did you learn to dance like that?”

She wrinkled her nose at him. She hated the word prude as much as she did dushka. If she only knew it meant sweetheart. He suppressed a grin.

“Watching music videos,” she told him. “I spent hours in my room growing up, and I danced and sang along to my favorite bands and singers.”

He could just imagine her dancing around in her room with a hairbrush while she belted out whatever song she listened to. It was definitely something she’d do.

“You’re really good.”

She shrugged. “I’m all right. You’re not eating your food.”

“I’m not really hungry. I wanted to feed you. Food relaxes you.”

“It does not.”

He laughed. “Yes, Lily Bells, it does. Don’t look so horrified. I love watching you eat.” He held up his hand before she could spew whatever was forming on her lips. “It’s not what you think. No fat jokes. You savor food like you do life. It makes you happy, and anyone around you can see it. Here, you can have the rest of mine. You ate every drop of yours.”

She frowned, but didn’t refuse. He figured the girl had a hell of a metabolism. She didn’t eat a lot, she just ate at odd times. She took a bite of his food and her eyes widened. He watched sweat break out across her forehead, and she reached blindly for something to drink. He handed her the milk, and she gulped the entire glass down at once.

“What the hell is in that?” she gasped once she could talk.

“I knew it,” Nikoli growled. “The bastard. He filled mine with extra chilis.”

“Is he trying to kill you?”

“His idea of a joke.” He knew something was off. Joe was nowhere to be seen either. Bastard. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded and reached over to grab Nikoli’s milk while he got the check. Her mouth was on fire and tears burned her eyes. She’d never eaten anything so hot in her life. When Nikoli stood up, she followed him to his car and tried to think if she had anything to drink in the dorm. She needn’t have worried, though. He stopped at a convenience store and got them both a gallon of milk, saying it took an entire gallon to calm his mouth down the last time Joe pulled that stunt.

When he pulled up to her dorm, he didn’t try to kiss her or even touch her. He’d kept his word all night and had been a true gentleman. Maybe she was more than attracted to Nikoli. Rebekha had made her think about him and her relationship with Adam in an entirely new light. What was she going to do about this man and the things she was starting to feel for him?

She still had no answer three hours later when she finally fell asleep.





Chapter Fourteen




The next two weeks flew by for Lily. Her classes this year were harder, and she found herself struggling to find time for much of anything outside of studying. When she wasn’t in class or tutoring, she was with Nikoli. Which still felt a little odd, only because she found she liked spending time with him. The manwhore was interesting, funny, and she found herself becoming as comfortable with him as she was with Adam and Mike. Nikoli said she would, and she was getting there. He never pushed her too far, gave her breathing room when she panicked, and they talked shop for hours. Cars were her thing, and he was the first guy who got how much she adored them. Nikoli was as big a car junkie as she was.

Not that she’d ever admit anything to Nikoli. Give him an inch and he’d take a hundred miles. No need to inflate his already oversized ego. He wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d pegged him for, though. He had a very sweet and caring side he didn’t show to everyone else. Said it was bad for his reputation. Lily was constantly reevaluating her opinion of him. It irked her too. She preferred him the slutty manwhore who only cared about himself. Nikoli wasn’t as selfish as she’d thought. He was almost a great guy when he wasn’t around other people. Almost. His ego kept getting in the way.

She was just glad she had some time to hang out with her friends. Mike had asked her to come help him and Adam with a bit of a situation online. They were all huge gamers, Halo being a specialty of theirs. It seemed that a team of guys had been destroying Mike and Adam when they played online, especially in the tournaments. Lily was a better shot than either of them, and Mike had begged her to come play today so they could get some payback. Luther was there too. He’d been a victim of the bullies as well. Seriously, a group of eleven guys teaming up against one or two people was not all fair.