When life throws you a curve ball, you’re supposed to hit the fucker with a bat.

At least that was always my dad’s advice every time one of his daughters were upset. I never played sports, so the metaphor was lost on me—except the part where I should hit something…that I understood all too well.

Releasing my anger on a punching bag has kept me out of jail countless times throughout my life.

Unfortunately, as a twenty-nine-year-old adult, I find I’m still working on my anger management. When I’m stressed, I drink. When I’m mad, I go to the gym. When I feel a combination of the two, usually all hell breaks loose—at least in my head, which is exactly what’s happening at the moment. Morgan, my sister, is temporarily crashing at my apartment. She recently accepted a job as the up and coming fashion designer, Ervin Kelly’s, personal assistant. They hired her on the spot; therefore, she claims she had no time to find her own place. I should probably mention I have a less-than-stellar relationship with my three older sisters. Our mother had spit out four kids in a five-year span, and the four of us spent our entire lives trying to outdo each other. Morgan is the one sister I can at least tolerate for short periods of time without the urge to kill her. However, having her up in my personal space is a whole other story.

“I poured you a coffee to take on the subway to work.” She steps out of my rather small kitchen with a huge smile on her face.

“Shouldn’t you have left by now?” I question as my eyes glance at the clock on the wall.

“Oh no, I don’t have to be into work until noon today.”

I groan. “Then why the hell are you not out looking for your own place?”

“Because my baby sister has a decent place for me to crash, and I still haven’t earned my first paycheck.”

I cringe thinking about how much longer she plans to stay in my decent place, which is nothing more than a small, two-bedroom apartment in a rather shady neighborhood. “Hopefully your savings account can handle the hit, because you’re not staying here much longer.” I attempt to glare, but my bitchy powers don’t work on Morgan who mastered them long before I did.

“I won’t be home until late. Ervin is requiring me to attend some damn party, so I have no idea when I’ll be home.”

“Great. Have fun. Start apartment shopping…maybe somewhere across town?”

She smirks and hands me my travel mug of coffee, which I gladly take before I walk out my door.

Taking a cab to work would be awesome, but it would also seriously eat into what little money I make. So instead, I ride the subway and endure some of the very same people I end up defending in court.

Today, like most Mondays, everyone on the subway appears to be in a rather crappy mood, and the miserably cold weather that almost cuts to the bone doesn’t help any. By the time I arrive at my office, which is really nothing more than a hole in the wall, my nerves are already shot, but leave it to one of my best friends to push me over the edge.

“Another second and you would’ve been late. I waited on you as long as I could.” Caleb raises an eyebrow in question.

Next to Jordan, Caleb Ramsey is my best friend, but that wasn’t always the case. Three years ago, we were both hired as interns at Wheeler, Massa & Croizer with the hopes of landing a permanent job—therefore, I hated Caleb on principle alone. After months of working our asses off, they hired both of us as junior assistants. At the end of the day, we make shit, but at least we have a job.

“Have you ever tried running in five-inch heels when it’s ten below outside?”

The corners of Caleb’s mouth turn up with a smile. “No, but for you I might consider trying.” The mental picture of Caleb in heels is worthy of a laugh.

“I stopped by to tell you assignments have been sent down. Looks like the two of us are going to spend a lot of time this week in court defending the city’s finest.”

I groan, even though I’m not surprised. Being the last two hired, Caleb and I are usually stuck with the firm’s pro bono cases.

“At least we’ll have a good excuse for going out on Friday.”

“If my sister doesn’t move the hell out of my apartment, I might need a night out before then.”

“Invite your sister to tag along.”

My mouth drops open. “No. No way, and if you so much as think about screwing my sister, I’ll cut your balls off and feed them to you.”

I’ve grown to love Caleb like a brother. He has blond hair on the verge of being too long, soft grey eyes, and is the perfect build. Big but not too big. He seems to be a hit with the ladies, and while I’m certain he looks good without his clothing on, I’m also a hundred percent sure I never want to see him naked. The very last thing I want is Caleb to date one of my sisters—it would be like he ditched me for the dark side.

“I wouldn’t think of it. Want to grab lunch later?”

I nod before Caleb finally darts back out my door, leaving me to start another long shitty week.