Lily was fuming by the time she returned to her friends. The nerve of the cheeky bastard. She was mad at herself too. Nikoli’s touch had not inspired the same type of fear everyone else’s did. The fear was still there, just lessened a bit by something else she didn’t understand. Something that made her stomach clench deliciously. He wasn’t going to know that, though, not ever. She had no intention of ever being one his girls.
“What was that about?” Adam asked as soon as she returned.
“Nothing,” she said dismissively. “So how was your summer, Mikey?”
Mike laughed at her obvious attempt to change the subject. “You need us to go explain a few things to old Nik?”
“No, there’s nothing to explain,” she said, exasperated. “He needed a tutor, and I told him I didn’t have time to take on anyone else.”
“Tutor, my ass,” Adam grumbled. “Lily, you…”
“I know exactly who he is, Adam,” she interrupted. “I already told him no.”
Adam frowned at her, before turning his eyes back to where Nik still stood under the tree where she’d left him. Sue, who up until now had not said anything one way or the other to Lily, reached out and tugged Adam to her, reminding him she was there. He looked down and gave her his one hundred watt smile. Lily died a little inside at the sight, but she kept her bland expression firmly in place. Wouldn’t do to give Sue any more ammunition against her.
“So, did you guys watch the news last night?” Janet piped up. “There was another woman reported missing.”
Lily had been watching the news, and it disturbed her. Three women had gone missing in the Boston area over the last three months. The bodies were recovered exactly a week after their disappearance. All three had been brutally raped, tortured, and severely beaten before being strangled. The police were finally admitting they had a serial killer on their hands. This latest disappearance had occurred six days ago. If the serial killer stuck to his pattern, the poor woman’s body would show up tomorrow.
“Janet, you worry too much.” Sue rolled her eyes. “We’re perfectly safe on campus.”
Lily wanted to roll her eyes at the little blonde tart. She honestly thought they were safe just because of a college campus? Psycho killers could stroll through campuses as easily as they could through a mall. There was no major security when it came to monitoring who was and who was not supposed to be on campus. Colleges were just as open to the public as the local McDonald’s. Sue grew up in a bubble. She had no idea of the big bad wolves out in the real world, right in your own backyard. Stupid.
“Don’t worry, ladies.” Mike flexed his muscles. “We’ll protect you.”
Lily did roll her eyes at that. Mikey, for all of his six feet, two inches, still behaved very much like a little kid showing off. It was one of the things she loved about him, though.
“All right, Michelangelo, I feel soooo much safer now,” she said. She and Mike had bonded over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reruns last year when Janet broke up with him. They were both addicted to the new TMNT cartoon series, despite the fact they were both technically adults. Who said adults couldn’t watch cartoons?
He smiled and threw a fist in the air. “Who else is gonna save your ass?”
“Campus security?” Lily asked dryly.
He stuck his tongue out at her. So mature. Lily turned her attention back to Adam, who was still nose deep into Sue. They looked so happy. It was one of the reasons she was so supportive. She didn’t really like her, but Sue made him happy, and that was all that mattered to Lily.
“Lunch?” she asked Adam pointedly.
A contrite expression appeared. Oh, no…the little Barbie struck again.
“Lils, we had something come up, and I have to go to lunch with Sue and her Mom. Wedding plans.”
“No worries.” Lily laughed good-naturedly, even though she was cursing six ways to Sunday inside. “You go do what you need to do. We’ll get dinner or something later in the week.”
“You could always come with?”
Sue glared the promise of death at her from behind him. She was tempted to say yes just to piss her off, but shook her head instead. “No, I’m good. I’m gonna go grab a bite, then head to the bookstore to check on a textbook I’m waiting for.”
“You sure?” he asked again, a hopeful expression on his face. Lily knew for a fact he detested Sue’s mother. His bed, he could lie in it.
“Yeah, I’m sure. You two go make your wedding plans.”
“He’s a blind fool, Lils,” Mike whispered sympathetically as they watched Adam and Sue walk away.
She sighed, not bothering to deny anything was wrong. Mike knew her too well, almost as well as Adam. Instead, she changed the subject. “What are we gonna do about that economics class of yours?”
“Did you have to remind me of that?” he grouched. “You know I’m doomed, and I won’t graduate.”
She rolled her eyes at him. Despite being a jock, Mike was exceptionally smart. He just needed a little prodding in the right direction sometimes. “You know I’m not gonna let you fail if I got you through statistics.”
They both grimaced over that statement. Statistics and Mike were not things that should ever be said in the same sentence. Lily had almost given up on him before she found something that made sense to him. Thank God she had, or they’d both have failed. She’d spent so much time trying to teach him the basics, she’d fallen behind herself last year. It hadn’t even been a class she needed, as she was an English major. She’d only taken it to help him, but she refused to do that again. Her GPA meant to much to her.
“I’ll find you a tutor,” she promised. And she would. God help her if she’d let him fail after all the time and effort she’d put into him so far.
“How was your summer?” Janet asked, bringing Lily’s attention back to her.
“It was great.” She smiled. “I spent most of the summer interning at a literary agency in New York.”
“You were in New York all summer?” Janet’s eyes lit up. She wanted to move to New York after graduation to become a journalist, and Mike wanted to work on Wall Street. The two of them had been together for almost two years now. Lily was expecting Janet to show her a ring soon. Mike was over the moon for her.
“I can’t believe you were in New York all summer and didn’t think to call up and say, ‘Hey, Mikey, I got a pad in NYC!’” He looked seriously injured. “Do you realize the epic parties we could have had?”
Lily laughed at his outraged expression. “Sorry, Mikey.”
“Dude, not cool.” He glared. “Not cool at all.”
She laughed “I’ll catch you guys later. I do need to check and see if my book is in before all the new freshmen swarm the bookstore.”
Every time Lily was around Adam and Sue, she got so frustrated it was all she could do not to scream. She honestly couldn’t figure out what Adam saw in the little tart, aside from her being a blonde, blue-eyed Barbie doll. Adam had always been a sucker for blonde hair. There was no substance to Sue. All she cared about was herself. There wasn’t a kind bone in her body. She had even attempted to stop Lily and Adam from being friends, but that was where Adam had drawn the line. He’d told her in no uncertain terms that Lily was family, and if she pushed, she wouldn’t like the outcome. Sue had shut up, but she still did little things to try and separate them. Like lunch today. Lily would guarantee the emergency was nothing but a ruse to get Adam away from her.
Sighing, she shook her head and headed for the bookstore. Maybe at least something would go right today and her book would be in.
Nik watched Lily walk away from the crowd gathered under the tree and debated following her. She was going to prove to be a challenge. He couldn’t think of a single time he’d ever had to work for a woman. They usually fell all over him, but not Lily. She had outright told him she had no interest whatsoever in him. Maybe she was just playing hard to get? Something told him that wasn’t her game, though. She had zero interest in him, and it rattled him.
Luther joined him under the tree, and the disgusting grin across his face irked Nik almost enough to punch his best friend. Not that it wasn’t warranted; it just rankled he could wear the grin at all. This was a new experience for him, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“She shut you down in less than a minute!” Luther crowed.
“Shut the hell up, man,” he grouched.
Luther laughed. “Hell, no. This is a first, and I am going to take extreme advantage of all the ribbing I can do.”
“Not for long,” Nik said darkly.
“Leave it alone, Nik.” All the laughter had gone out of Luther’s voice. “Lily is not the kind of girl you just fuck.”
“Then what kind of girl is she?” Nikoli’s mind was already plotting how to get her into his bed.
“She’s the kind of girl you marry,” Luther told him.
“That’s bullshit, man,” Nik scoffed. “They’re all the same, just have to figure out the right notes to hit with her.”
Luther shook his head. “Your funeral.”
Nikoli knew Luther was only looking out for him, but Luther’s warning wasn’t going to deter him.
He always got what he wanted.