Chapter nine.

                                    

                                          
Hardin
                          
"Daddy!"

                          
I sprung up in bed and groaned. I had the worst fucking headache ever. "Oh Mother of God," I said as I dropped back onto the pillow.
                          
Chloe crawled on the bed and started jumping. "Daddy! Get up! I'm going to be late for school!"

                          
"Chloe, baby, please stop jumping on the bed. Daddy has ..."

                          
"A hangover?"

                          
Snapping my head to the door, I shot Emme a dirty look.

                          
"Have fun last night?" she asked with a smirk.

                          
Chloe kept jumping.

                          
"Chloe, please stop."

                          
"Carson said you drank until you damn near passed out," Emmeline said. "Harry had to bring you home. I was already fast asleep by then."

                          
I swung my legs off the bed and attempted to stand. "It was a rough night."

                          
Emme let out a gruff laugh. "You don't say. I take it things didn't go well with Tessa."
                          
"Who's Tessa?" Chloe asked.
                          
Before I had a chance to answer, Emmeline did. "Tessa is Ms. Young, Daddy's old girlfriend."
                          
Chloe gasped. I turned to Emmeline. "What in the hell, Meli?"
                          
With a shrug, she shot me the finger behind Chloe's back.
                          
"What? Do you have a problem with me drinking, Meli?"
                          
Chloe pulled on my T-shirt. I was wearing the same damn thing I went out in, minus my boots. "Daddy, did you and my teacher really go out on dates?"
                          
Fuck. I don't want to have this conversation with Chloe. Especially right now.
                          
"You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?" I spit at Emme.
                          
"Chloe, princess, will you run to your room and give me and your daddy a few minutes of grown up talk?"
                          
"Sure!"
                          
The second she was out my bedroom, Emmeline shut the door and turned to face me.
                          
"I'm not in the mood for your shit today, Emme."
                          
Her brows rose as she gave me a defiant look. "Well tough shit. You're an asshole, do you know that?"
                          
I headed into the bathroom and turned on the water. I needed to splash my face and wake the hell up. "Yep. Figured that out years ago when I walked away from the only woman I loved."
                          
"So what in the hell are you doing getting drunk out of your damn mind and then calling Tessa?"
                          
My hands froze under the cold water as I peered up at Emmeline's reflection in the mirror. "What?"
                          
She nodded. "Yeah, you kept calling her. She didn't have Harry or Carson's number but I gave her mine at back to school night. She was worried sick because you were so drunk. I had to assure her that Carson and Harry were with you and would get you home okay."