Touch Me Not (Manwhore, #1)(52)

“Man, your girlfriend is a badass,” Luther said, watching Lily. It was only a second before he realized what he’d said and turned wide eyes to Nikoli. Luther looked horrified and regretful all at once. Nik knew Luther adored Lily and was afraid Nik would say something to hurt her. Nor had he meant to put Nikoli on the spot.

Lily wasn’t paying attention. Her sole focus was on the game, but everyone else in the room, including the other guys who had come in to watch, were all staring at him. Everyone knew Nikoli wasn’t a girlfriend kind of guy, and while he and Lily had spent the last several weeks together, he’d never specifically called her his girlfriend. He glanced down at the top of her head and found he couldn’t say she wasn’t. It was odd, really. He tried to say the words, but they just wouldn’t roll off his tongue. Dammit. He was in so much f*cking trouble.

“She is,” he agreed and leaned back against the couch. He heard the shock of their indrawn breaths and saw it on the faces around him. The horror on Boy Wonder’s face made him smirk. Adam didn’t like Lily being with him one bit. Too damn bad. Boy Wonder didn’t deserve Lily. No one did. She was too good for all these *s, including him. His own thoughts stopped his thought process. Shocked didn’t even begin to describe what he felt right now. He wanted to frown at his own self, but he kept his face neutral and amused. He liked calling her his girlfriend, liked that she belonged to him. Something inside of him cracked open and pleasure leaked out. He didn’t like it, not one bit.

He lifted his eyes and saw his buddy Craig in the corner not paying attention to anything but the girl all up in his business. Cute blonde, big boobs, and Craig’s hands were full of her ass. Just the sight made him start to get hard. He let out a slow breath and looked down at Lily nestled between his legs, her head only inches from his cock. He got harder thinking about her mouth wrapped around him, her nails digging into his ass as he pushed deeper into her mouth, making her take all of him. Fuck, he needed to get laid.

But he couldn’t. Dammit. It had been weeks since he’d had sex, all because of the woman sitting in front of him. He needed to alleviate the pressure. He wrapped her hair around his hand and marveled at how soft it was. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he pulled the heavy mass of black hair back and started to braid it, an idea forming in his head. They would go back to the penthouse in the city when she was done here and he would push her, push her the way he’d wanted to for weeks. He was going to touch her, kiss her, to show her that his touch brought only warmth and desire. Plans began to form, and his smile was slow and full of the promise of naughty thoughts.

So caught up in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed the last two opponents taken out and the group around them disperse. All that was left were Mike and Adam. Even Luther had gotten up and headed somewhere. Lily sat peacefully, letting him braid her hair. He’d done it several times over the last three weeks, so she was used to it. Adam and Mike were just staring, their faces masks of shock and disbelief. He sighed. Why had none of them ever pushed her? They were supposed to care about her, yet they had let this go on. In two months he’d made more progress than either of them had in years.

“Lils?”

“Hmm?” she answered Mike, leaning her head against Nikoli’s knee, thoroughly relaxed. She loved when he braided her hair. Her mom used to do it when she was little, but it never felt like this. Nikoli made each movement feel like a caress, like a gentle touch she felt everywhere, even though he only held her hair.

“You got gems for sale?”

She perked up at the mention of the form of money used for their online social game. Mikey had been hinting for a week or so he might be doing some big spending. He always bought from her because she always had a lot of gems. She bought and sold gems at a discounted rate. It had made her a small fortune in the game and kept her bank account healthy.

“How many you need?” she asked, sitting up a little straighter.

“Five thousand at least, maybe more later in the week.”

“What the hell do you need five thousand gems for?” she asked, trying to calculate how much it would cost.

“Gems?” Nikoli asked, his voice a little sharp.

Lily ignored him and focused on Mike. “Well?”

“I bought Janet a ring,” he confessed sheepishly as he pulled a tiny black velvet box out of his pocket.

Lily squealed and jumped up, ignoring Nikoli’s grunt when he was forced to let her hair go. “Let me see,” she demanded and held out her hand. Mike laughed and put the box in her outstretched palm. Lily opened it and gasped with delight. Inside lay a simple diamond engagement ring. It wasn’t huge, but it was elegant, and so very Janet. She would adore this.

“It’s beautiful, Mikey,” she told him and handed it back to him. “You did good.”

“I hope Jan likes it.” He shoved the box back into his pocket. He sounded so nervous, and Lily couldn’t help but smile.

“She’ll love it,” Adam assured him. “Don’t worry so much, bro. It’s not about the ring anyway.”

“Adam’s right,” Lily agreed. “She loves you, so she’ll love the ring.”

“I guess.”

Lily and Adam both laughed at Mike’s nervousness. They knew how anxious he could get over things he really cared about.

“Now, why do you need so many gems?” she asked.