Taming Alec(3)

I stood and began walking toward the living room. With each step, the screaming music became clearer.

Is it coming from inside my apartment?

I stopped next to the front door. It sounded like it was coming from the hallway. Annoyed, I threw the door open, expecting to see a band playing right outside my door. The hallway was empty, but I knew exactly where the sound was coming from.

I glared holes into Alec’s door, noticing the tiny amount of light escaping from under his door. It had to be past three in the morning, and he was blaring that shit. I stomped across the hall and stopped in front of his door. I raised my fist to beat on the door, not caring that I was in a ridiculous pair of pink pajamas. My fist hit the door, and I sucked in a surprised breath when it opened. Apparently, he hadn’t shut it all the way.

The reason for the half-ass closed door became obvious as soon as I caught sight of what was happening in his apartment. My hand covered my mouth to keep me from crying out in shock. His apartment was set up exactly the same as mine with the living room right inside the door. I stared in horror as I watched my new neighbor pound into a chick lying underneath him on the couch. I couldn’t look away from his bare form. He was facing me, so I couldn’t see everything, but it was enough.

I could hear the woman crying out, even over the loud music pouring from the sound system a few feet away. I took a step back, desperate to escape. I just knew I would be scarred for life over this. My movement caught Alec’s attention, and he looked up. We stared at each other—me in horror, him in shock—but his hips never stopped thrusting into the woman.

“Enjoying the show?” he finally asked, his voice strained from his current activities.

If the girl below him had heard him speak, she didn’t acknowledge him.

My eyes widened in shock and embarrassment as I took another step back.

He grinned. “Either join in, or get the f*ck out.”

Common sense finally caught up to me, and I turned and ran back to my apartment.

Dear God, I’ll never get that image out of my head.

As I slammed my apartment door shut, I knew one thing for sure. I would never be able to look at my neighbor again for as long as I lived.





“It was horrible, Arie! Horrible!” I told my best friend as we settled down into two chairs at Starbucks. I sipped my caramel latte as I stared at her.

“What was? Your first day of teaching? Or the porn you witnessed in high definition last night?” Arie grinned across the table at me.

I frowned. “My first day wasn’t bad, except for the fact I was so sleep deprived that I almost fell asleep after lunch. No, I was talking about my neighbor and his three in the morning activities.”

Arie chewed her lip thoughtfully. Even as a girl, I knew her lips were nice, just like the rest of her. Arie wasn’t classically beautiful. All our lives, she always lived on the edge when it came to her looks. Our junior year, my mother had been horrified when Arie showed up at our house with hot-pink hair and black lips. Thankfully, she’d gotten rid of both. Now, she sported black hair with blonde-and-blue streaks through it. Her makeup was dark, which only made her look paler than she was, but it’d been years since I caught her wearing black lipstick. I counted my blessings daily for that. Her face was slim, and her nose was tiny but cute. It made her rich brown eyes look bigger than they were. They were her favorite feature, and I had to agree. She was as tall as me, but she lacked my curves.

“What are you going to do about him?” she asked.

I sighed. “What can I do besides avoid him at all costs? After last night, there’s no way I could ever look at him with a straight face again.”

“He sounds like an ass,” Arie said.

I’d filled her in on his attitude when we first met along with The Couch Encounter—my name for the horrible scene I’d witnessed last night.

“He is an ass. I’ve never met such an arrogant dick before in my life,” I said grumpily.

She laughed. “Oh, honey, men like him are everywhere. You just haven’t had the displeasure of meeting one of them.”

“I made it twenty-three years without meeting one. Why couldn’t I have gone another twenty-three?” I grumbled.

“You’re so naive, Rebecca. It would be cute if it weren’t for the fact that you’re an adult now. It’s time to grow up and face the big bad world.”

I stuck my tongue out at her. “I’m not naive, and I’ll gladly face the big bad world as long as I don’t have to face Alec.”

She shook her head. “After yesterday and last night, hiding is what he expects you to do. Guys like him can smell innocence a mile away.”

“So? What’s your point?”

“I say, make him squirm. Beat him at his own game, and knock him down a few notches. He’d never expect that from someone like you. If you fight back, he’ll leave you alone. If not, he’s going to purposely embarrass and torment you.”

I was almost offended by the “someone like you” comment, but I knew Arie well enough to know that she wasn’t being mean.

“I don’t even know what his game is—let alone, how to beat him at it,” I grumbled.

“Make him want you. It’s as simple as that. Then, when he thinks he has you where he wants you, turn the tables on him and walk away.”