I cracked an eye open and instantly regretted the whisky I’d drunk when I got home last night. My head throbbed and I felt like shit. The headache was intensified by the yelling coming from another room. Tenille and Charlie were going at it.

Checking my irritation, I headed out to the kitchen where they stood arguing. “What the fuck’s going on?” I asked.

Two heads snapped around to face me, and they both yelled something about the other. I held up my hand. “How about you take turns? I’ve got a headache and can only focus on one at a time.”

It took them a good five fucking minutes to tell me they were fighting over Charlie getting her hair done. She wanted a colour that was apparently out of Tenille’s budget.

Desperate to end the yelling, I cut in. “I’ll pay for it.”

Charlie’s eyes widened with surprise. Tenille’s darkened with anger. Neither reaction was what I’d expected.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Tenille started in on me. “You’re just going to come back into our lives and play the fun dad who gives her everything she wants?”

“Jesus, Tee, that wasn’t my intention.” Where the fuck did women come up with these ideas?

“Regardless of whether I could afford it or not, Charlie knows that until she brings her grades back up and stops smoking and drinking, I’m not paying for her to get balayage.”

“Balay-the-fuck-what?”

Charlie groaned impatiently. “Balayage. It’s a colouring technique.” To her mother she said, “You’re so hypocritical! You drink your gin like its water, but you have a whole other set of rules for me.”

“That’s because it’s my job to have rules for you.” Tenille’s voice grew louder. Blinking, I took a good look at her. She looked like shit—tired and drained.

“What’s in your plans for the day?” I asked her.

That question really pissed her off. “Don’t change the conversation!”

I reached for my bottle of whisky and poured some into a glass. “Wasn’t trying to. I figured maybe you should take a day and go out. Do something by yourself.”

Tenille’s hand slammed down onto her waist as she glared at me. “You’re trying to get rid of me?”

“Fuck, tone that shit down, woman.” Her voice had turned into a screech that hurt my head. “No one’s trying to get rid of anyone. I’m suggesting, though, that we could all do with a break from each other.”

“You’ve hardly been home, Aiden. I don’t know what the fuck you need a break from.”

I swallowed all the whisky in my glass, hoping to fuck I could control my rising temper. “Tenille,” I said, deathly calm, “walk away from this conversation, pick up your bag and remove yourself from this house for at least half the day. When you get back, we will resume this discussion and come to an agreement on Charlie’s hair.” How the fuck hair colour could cause a problem like this was beyond me.

“Ugh,” Charlie whinged before stomping off to her bedroom. “I wanted to get it done today!”

Tenille picked up her handbag. Dropping her gaze to the bottle of whisky, she said, “You’re turning into your mother, Aiden. Something you swore you never wanted to do.”

The front door slammed after her a few moments later as her words settled deep in my bones. They cut like a motherfucker because she was right—I had sworn I wouldn’t become my mother. A mean drunk. And yet, I was fast becoming exactly that.

Fuck.

I shoved the whisky back in the cupboard and dumped my empty glass in the sink. Walking faster than my headache preferred, I made my way to Charlie’s room where I found her with earphones in on her bed.

Glancing at me, she pulled an earbud out and muttered, “What do you want?”

“You need to cut your mother some slack. And you need to realise that her rules are there for a reason. And for fuck’s sake, you’re old enough to know that parents do the shit they don’t want their kids to do. Drinking doesn’t make her a hypocrite.”

She looked at me with shock. This was the first time I’d been so blunt with her. I’d been fucking tiptoeing around her, not wanting to chance pushing her away. But the time had come for me to step up to the plate and parent her. And she could try to push me away all she liked. I wouldn’t stand for it. I was in her life now whether she wanted me or not.

“You don’t understand, Aiden. She’s turned into such a bitch this last year. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but she hates everything I say and do. Nothing is good enough for her.”

“Ever stop to think about shit from her perspective? For her to leave Craig, I’m guessing they’ve had a lot of problems.”

“Dad does a lot for Mum, but she’s never happy with him either. They fight so much. The only time she seems happy is when Gibson comes over.”

I ignored the fact she called Craig dad and zeroed in on the way she spat Gibson’s name out. “You don’t like him, do you?”

Her face darkened. “No. He’s a creeper. He’s always watching me, asking me about how school is and about my friends and my sport. I mean, why does he even care about that stuff?”

My fists clenched by my side. I hated that Tenille had let him into their lives. “Do me a favour and stay away from him.”

“I thought you two were close when you were younger?”

“Why would you think that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He talks about you a lot. He’s always reminding Mum of things you guys did with his son.”

Tenille had said something similar. It made no sense to me. I’d always thought Gibson cared about me, but he’d shown his true colours the day he threatened to kill my family and me. “When was the last time you saw him?”

“Not for a couple of weeks. I think he’s been overseas.” She huffed out a breath. “God, can we stop talking about this and start talking about my hair? You need to talk Mum around.”

“I’ll talk to her when she’s calmed down, but I’m gonna need to see some respect coming from you towards her.”

She slumped against the wall. “I’ll try. I just hope she tries too. I’m sick of her making me feel like shit.”

I decided it might be a good idea to keep them apart for the day, to give each a chance at getting their head together. “You ever been on a motorbike?”

Her eyes sparked with interest and she sat forward. “No.”

“You wanna go for a ride?”

She was off the bed in a flash. “Hell yes!”

If I’d realised she’d be this excited about something that meant we’d be spending time together, I would have suggested it sooner. Jerking my head towards the front of the house, I said, “Get your ass outside. And Charlie?”

“Yeah?” She was already halfway across her bedroom.

“No more talk of hair today. I take you out on my bike, we’re gonna discuss everything else that has been happening in your life.”

Slowing, she met my gaze. She understood my meaning. I could tell by the way she looked at me with a little hesitation. Today would mark a change in our relationship. I’d be asking for more from her from here on out.

“Okay.”

With one word, she made my fucking day. The headache pounding in my head cleared, and hope stirred deep in my gut. My kid and I were finding our way back to each other.