Lily was fuming by the time she returned to her friends. The nerve of the cheeky bastard. She was angry with herself too. Nikoli's touch had not inspired the same type of fear everyone else's did. The fear was still there, just lessened by something she didn't understand. Something that made her stomach clench deliciously. He wouldn't know that, though. Lily had no intention of becoming one of his girls.
"What was that about?" Adam frowned toward Nikoli, where he still leaned against the tree where she'd left him.
"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. 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's frown deepened. Sue, who up until now hadn't said anything one way or the other to Lily, reached out and tugged Adam to her, reminding him she was there. He gave Sue 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, bringing the body count to four, had occurred six days ago. If the serial killer stuck to his pattern, the poor woman's body would show up tomorrow.
Sue rolled her eyes. "Janet, you worry too much. We're perfectly safe on campus."
Lily wanted to roll her own eyes at the little blonde tart. Sue 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 must have grown up in a bubble. She had no idea of the big bad wolves out in the real world, right in your own back yard. Stupid girl.
"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 Lily loved about him.
"All right, Michelangelo, I feel soooo much safer now." Lily winked at Janet.
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 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.
Lily didn't bother to deny anything was wrong. Mike knew her too well, almost as well as Adam.
Every time she 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 wannabe. Adam always had 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 to separate them. Like lunch today. Lily would guarantee the emergency was nothing but a ruse to get Adam away from her.
Time for a change of subject. "What are we gonna do about that economics class of yours?"
"Did you have to remind me of that? You know I'm doomed, and I won't graduate."
That was not true. 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. It hadn't even been a class she needed, as she was an English major. She'd only taken it to help Mike, but she refused to do that again. Her GPA meant too 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 over the last three years.
"How was your summer?" Janet asked, bringing Lily's attention back to her.
"It was great. 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. Despite some ups and downs, they were over the moon for each other. Lily expected a ring to show up on Janet's finger before graduation.
"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."
"Not cool." He glared. "Not cool at all."
Not even Mike's pouting could distract her for long. Her hurt feelings surged back up, and she decided the best thing to do was escape to where she could stew over Adam's neglect of her in private.
"I'll catch you guys later. I really do need to check and see if my book is in before all the new freshmen swarm the bookstore."
She threw a general wave at the crowd around them and headed for the bookstore. Maybe at least something would go right today and her book would be in.
***
Nikoli watched Lily walk away from the crowd gathered under the tree and debated following her but decided against it. Lily was not like the other girls who fell all over themselves trying to get his attention. She outright told him she had no interest whatsoever in him. If it were any other woman, he'd think she was playing hard to get. Lily seemed genuine when she'd told him to fuck off in her own way.
No, just trying to charm her wasn't going to work.
He needed a plan.
A plan that required a little thought. Maybe even a call to his babushka. His grandmother would laugh her ass off, but she'd never given him bad advice in all his twenty-two years. But did he want the humiliation of confessing a woman was playing hard to get when Babushka already thought his good looks were a curse?
Maybe.
Luther joined him under the tree, a grin smearing his face that irked Nik enough to punch his best friend. Not that the grin wasn't warranted; it just rankled Luther could wear it at all.
This was new, uncharted territory for him, and he was unsure of how to navigate the waters. He didn't need Luther acting like an ass about it.
"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," Nikoli said darkly.
"Leave it alone, Nik." All the laughter died in 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."
"That's bullshit," Nikoli scoffed. "They're all the same. I just have to figure out the right notes to hit with her."
Luther shook his head. "Your funeral."
Nikoli knew he was only looking out for him, but Luther's warning wasn't going to deter him.
He'd never backed away from a challenge in his life. All the bruises and broken bones growing up attested to that with four older brothers.
"Come on, let's go get some food. I'm starving."
Luther nodded, but he laughed all the way to the food court.