I actually wake up with a smile on my face, knowing I’ll see Cap today. I still can’t believe he was willing to drop everything to see me. Men don’t do shit like that for women who mean nothing to them.

My smile eventually fades as I eat breakfast and begin obsessing over what he’ll find when he arrives. I decide the house is messy, though not horribly so considering six people live here. Dressing in my raggediest clothes, I start cleaning with the hope that staying busy will keep me from stressing myself out before Cap even arrives.

An hour later, Colton watches me wipe down the counters and purposely eats his English muffin without a plate. The crumbs drop to the floor I just cleaned. My dark eyes find his and narrow menacingly. He only smiles and takes another bite.

“Why?” I mutter.

“You didn’t clean the house for my girlfriend.”

“Which one?”

“Does it matter?”

“What would I care what your girlfriends think?”

“Exactly my thought about your boyfriend,” he says and chews his food with his mouth open.

I reach for a kitchen knife before deciding that killing him might be a step too far. Instead, I grab a wooden spoon and rush the messy jerk. He sidesteps my first attack, though I get lucky with a punch to his right ribs. Colton swipes my feet, sending me flat on my ass.

“Don’t mess with the bear, baby girl,” he says, popping me on the head with the spoon he seized.

I stare up at him with the fire of a million pissed women roaring inside me. “One day, I will make your male vagina bleed.”

Colton only grins and tosses the spoon in the sink. I watch him walk away before returning to my feet. Lily remains silent in the living room. I know she heard our battle, but she won’t interfere. Violence isn’t her thing. She’s a lover, not a fighter.

An image of my soon-to-be lover entering the house sends me into a panic. My stomach cramps and I realize my hands are shaking. Giving up on cleaning the house, I hurry upstairs for a shower. Only when I reach the bathroom do I realize I’m crying.

Sitting on my bed, I rock back and forward in the way Mom did when she held me as a baby. Lacking my mom’s soothing power, I can’t shake my panic.

My family could embarrass me. Cap could embarrass me. I’ll most likely embarrass myself. Then Cap will dump me, and my family will make fun of me, and I’ll cry like a dumbshit.

Lily didn’t cry when she broke it off with Jay. She remained mature about losing the man she planned to marry while I’m a sobbing mess over a guy I barely know but who already owns my heart.

“You’re okay,” Lily says, entering my room and climbing behind me on the bed. Her delicate fingers begin massaging my shoulders. “Whatever is bothering you will pass.”

“Have you ever had one of those dreams where you’re driving, and the car just keeps going faster and faster until you can’t control it and end up crashing?” When Lily nods, I admit in a whisper, “Cap is going to realize I’m a loser and dump me.”

“You’re not a loser.”

“He helps runs his family’s business, and he’s so confident. I have a part-time job and no big plans. Why didn’t I improve myself years ago? Now I’m nothing special.”

“Where’s all this negativity coming from?”

“Did we just meet? I’m always negative.”

“Not always. You were happy last night when Cap said he’d drop everything to visit you.”

I wipe my eyes and remember that excitement. “Yeah, I was happy. I just worry that whatever magic happened in White Horse won’t happen here. What if he sees me in a new light and decides I’m not good enough?”

“Then he’s an asshole,” she says, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “If that man comes here and mistreats you, we’ll have Pop kick his ass.”

“I’m not sure he could take Cap.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Pop might not be a young man anymore, but he’s plenty strong, and he cheats in fights.”

“Cap cheats too, I think. He doesn’t believe in losing.”

“Well, if Pop can’t take him, then Colton can help. It’s not like the knucklehead has anything else to do.”

I smile at my sister’s word choices. Despite her sounding like a grandma, I keep my mouth shut and avoid hurting her feelings. Lily’s never been a bad sister, but we never had a lot in common. I grew up feeling like an annoyance to her. I always followed around her and Rando while they were always trying to ditch me.

“What’s happening?” Rando asks, standing at my doorway.

“Audrey’s nervous about Cap’s visit.”

“Nervous?”

“Yeah, I’m freaking out a little.”

Rando says nothing before walking away. I smile at her exit and then turn to Lily.

“Have you ever had your heart broken?”

“No.”

“What about with Jay?”

“I never managed to love him as much as I wanted,” she says, settling down next to me on the bed. “When I knew things were over, I only felt relieved.”

“I think I could love Cap more than I’ve loved anyone. That’s a lot of power to give to a person I barely know.”

“Trust yourself. Pop said you have a good gut instinct, and he doesn’t say that about everyone.”

“He also says I have no common sense.”

“You’re like him that way. You run toward things and mouth off before thinking.”

“And crash and burn a lot,” I mumble, thinking of how my big mouth drove away the twins.

“I can think of plenty of things worse than being like Pop.”

I use my shirt to dry my face. Taking a deep breath, I level out my shoulders and steady my nerves.

“If Cap dumps me, I will fall apart completely and be a useless piece of shit for at least a year. You should prepare to witness that dramafest.”

“Though I believe you’re strong than that, if you need to fall apart for a while, no one will hold it against you.”

“Colton will.”

“Not if you cry. It’s why he rarely pulls any shenanigans with me. I always cry, and he backs off.”

“I’ll give that a try sometime.”

Rando enters the room and hands me a sangria-flavored wine cooler. “Drink this and calm down.”

“I don’t think I should.”

“I’m drinking one, and I’m not even freaking out,” she says and reveals a half-empty bottle in her other hand. “I can drink that one too if you want.”

“No, I’m good.”

Rando walks out of the room without saying anything else. Lily frowns at our sister and shakes her head. “Should she be drinking before noon?”

“What difference does it make? Does she still have a job?”

“I think she works part-time at the animal shelter.”

“You think?” I ask, shocked that she doesn’t know everyone’s comings and goings.

“I don’t know what she does. When I ask Mom, she says to ask Rando, which means she doesn’t know either.”

“Whatever Rando’s job might be,” I say and gulp a mouthful of wine cooler, “the girl was right about the booze. I’m much calmer now.” When an offended Lily clears her throat loudly, I smile. “You helped more, of course. I have great big sisters.”

Properly credited for her greatness, Lily smiles and gives me a tender hug. Her delicate way always annoyed me a little. Why was she so damn prim and proper when she grew up roughnecking like the rest of us? Despite my occasional irritation with Lily, I can’t deny she gives nice hugs, great massages, and solid pep talks. In fact, I’m positively calm by the time Cap arrives.