“Of course your little girlfriend would run and tell you that.”

“Actually, it was your daughter who filled me in.”

“You know that I’ve never been good with appointments. In fact, you used to love that I was impetuous and impulsive, remember?” She leaned against my doorway.

“Yeah, and I also thought futons made great beds and ramen was a food group, because we were in college. I grew up because you can’t be careless with a kid, Claire!”

I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, twisted the top, and chugged. Then I offered her one, because she gave me my favorite human on the planet.

“No, thanks. From what I remember, you used to like a beer right around now,” she replied.

“I don’t drink unless Fin is at your mom’s.”

“Because you’re so responsible now?” She crossed her arms.

“Yes! I became a parent. I never put myself in a situation where I can’t take care of her.”

“Are you ever going to stop taking digs at me?” she fired back. “I’m here now. Isn’t that what matters?”

Fuck, this was exhausting. I finished the water, hoping it would cool my temper. “You can have every other weekend and every other holiday.” My heart screamed at the thought of not having Fin on Christmas morning, but wasn’t this what adults did?

“Not enough. I may as well stay in L.A. and fly back twice a month for that.” She brushed invisible dirt off her blouse.

“That’s as good as you’re going to get. If you want to schedule some dinners, we can make that happen, too, but Fin’s stability is the most important factor in all of this.”

Claire huffed, then stood to her full height. “Fine, then fire her nanny. I’ll pick her up from school and keep her until you’re off work, and I’ll stay here on the nights you’re flying.”

“I’m not firing Sarah.” I kept my hands on the counter so I didn’t rip my own hair out.

“You’d rather she spend time with a stranger than her mother?” she fired at me.

“Sarah isn’t a stranger, and she’s proven herself way more dependable than you have! You can’t have that time with Finley because I can’t trust you. Don’t you get that? Trust isn’t something you get because you finally deigned to show up and parent. Trust is something you have to earn, and you haven’t earned it, Claire.”

She sucked in a breath. “Watch it, Jax. I might just file for full custody, and then we’ll see who’s begging for a little time.”

Every muscle in my body locked.