Fucking gulp!

His forearms are corded with veins, thick and tan. His jaw is strong, and currently ticking with irritation. His dark brown, almost black hair is deliciously tousled on top, shorter on the sides. Dark brown scruff covers his chin and jaw, giving him rugged yet clean-cut appeal.

The guy may have more vanity creams than a sorority house, but Aleck Fox is one-hundred percent man. And the way he stands, unapologetically and unembarrassed that he’s been caught with two women by a stranger, drips with privilege and, I’m ashamed to admit, charisma.

His eyes—Sondra was not kidding. “Try not to slip in Aleck’s blues…”

Yeah, no shit. They’re as blue as a watercolor painting of the ocean. Light and dark blue swirling together like watered down paint. Bright and guarded by thick, long, dark brown lashes; highlighted only by his growing impatience.

“Hey! Ben Grimm...” He claps his hands together twice to get my attention. “Are you just going to stand there and stare at me all night, or is there something I can help you with?”

“Who’s Ben Grimm?” the one with her tits out asks.

He takes his gaze off me, turning toward his shiny guest. “The Thing…” He waits for recognition in her expression but gets none.

“Fantastic Four…” he continues, but there’s not even a spark behind her eyes.

He holds his arms out, mild surprise narrowing his eyes. “The Marvel character who has a tough, rock-like hide…”

Shit. My hands fly up to my face and press into my cheeks when I realize I still have this goddamn mud mask on. I scrunch my face uncomfortably, feeling cracks in the dry mud spread across my skin. The girls remain bored and so clueless, looking at Aleck as if he’s speaking Russian.

“Never mind.” He shakes his head, bringing his unaffected stare back to me. “Point is, you’re interrupting my evening.”

“It’s midnight, dickhead.”

“My morning then.” He smirks.

That taunting fucking smirk. I want to smack it off his face.

“Turn. The music. Off,” I grit through my teeth.

Aleck’s smirk grows into a full grin as if he finds me mildly amusing rather than intimidating. He pulls his phone from his pocket and taps the screen. The ridiculously outdated music playing through the speakers in the ceiling stops. The only sound in the room, my jack hammering heart and the crackling tension between us.

The women covered in sparkly bullshit merely fall into the background.

Aleck pockets his phone, folding his arms across his beautifully sculpted chest—No! Winter, stop.

“What can I do for you?” His voice slithers like a snake between us, his mouth displaying a pandering smile.

“You can keep it the hell down. I have a full day tomorrow. You know, with our best friends getting married and everything. And I really don’t appreciate you bringing an orgy back to our shared living quarters.”

A devilish smirk casts across Aleck’s lips. “This is a threesome. At least four people constitute an orgy. So if you want to ditch the attitude, I’d be more than happy to accommodate all three of you.”