Mr. Robinson stood.

He did not slam his hands on the table. He did not raise his voice. He simply stood, and something about the calmness of it made the space feel sharper.

"Do not talk to her that way," Mr. Robinson said.

Zac’s eyes shifted to him.

The anger in Zac’s face changed shape.

Roxie’s heart started pounding harder because she knew that look. She had seen it at Creekside. She had seen it right before Brent hit the water.

"Zac," she warned.

He looked Mr. Robinson up and down, then gave a short, ugly laugh. "What, now you’re defending her?"

Mr. Robinson’s face hardened. "I am telling you to watch your tone."

"She doesn’t need a sugar daddy," Zac said.

The restaurant went horribly quiet around them.

Roxie’s face burned so hard her eyes stung.

For a second, she could not move. She could not breathe. The words sat there in the air between the white tablecloth, the candle, the expensive plates, and the borrowed dress Mrs. Robinson had given her because she thought Roxie deserved to sit at the table.

Sugar daddy.

People heard.

She knew they heard.

Mr. Robinson’s jaw tightened. "You need to leave."

Zac’s eyes stayed on Roxie, and something flickered in his expression as the damage finally reached him.

"Roxie," he said, lower now.

She stood so fast her chair scraped against the floor.

"Outside," she said.

"Roxie—"

"Outside, Zac."

Her voice cracked on his name, and she hated that too.

Mr. Robinson turned slightly toward her. "Roxie, you don’t have to—"

"I’m sorry," she said, grabbing her clutch with shaking hands. "I’m so sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for."

That almost broke her.

She could not look at him.

She pushed past Zac and walked toward the exit with her eyes fixed straight ahead. Her vision blurred at the edges, but she would rather die than cry in front of a restaurant full of people who had just heard Zac Prescott make her sound cheap.

The cool night air hit her face the second she stepped outside.

She made it three steps onto the sidewalk before turning around.

Zac followed her out.

The restaurant door shut behind him.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The warm light from the windows fell across his face, and he looked angry still, but there was panic under it now. He knew. Maybe not all of it, but enough to understand that he had gone too far.

Roxie clutched the borrowed clutch in both hands.

Her voice came out low and shaking. "What is wrong with you?"

Zac swallowed. "I saw you with him."

"With him?" Roxie laughed once, sharp and wet. "He is Jason’s father."

"I know who he is."

"Do you? Because you just walked into a restaurant and made it sound like I was there for money."

His face twisted. "That is not what I meant."

"That is exactly what you said."

"I was pissed."

"I don’t care."

The words came out louder than she meant. A couple walking near the curb glanced over. Roxie lowered her voice, but the anger stayed.

"I do not care if you were pissed, Zac. You humiliated me."

He dragged a hand through his hair, breathing hard. "You weren’t answering my calls. You left the party after I tried to help you, and then I see you dressed like that at some expensive restaurant with him, and I—"

"And you what?" she cut in. "Decided I needed another scene? Decided you were going to protect me again?"

His jaw clenched. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The silence told her enough.

Roxie’s eyes burned.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Don’t call that protection."

Zac stepped closer, then stopped when she stepped back.

"I know I messed up," he said.

"You humiliated me."

"I didn’t mean to."

"You did it anyway."

His face tightened like the words hurt.

Roxie almost hated herself for caring.

She wiped under one eye fast before the tear could fall. "You keep saying you are protecting me, but you don’t listen to me. You just decide what is happening, and then you make it worse. You always make it worse."

Zac looked away.

For once, he had no immediate answer.

"I’m babysitting," she said, voice breaking despite how hard she tried to keep it steady. "Mrs. Robinson asked me to join them because Jason wanted me there. She lent me this dress because I didn’t have anything to wear. They were being nice to me."

Zac’s face changed.

Roxie could see every word land.

The anger drained in pieces, leaving something worse behind.

Shame.

She looked away because seeing it almost made her soften, and she did not want to soften.

"Roxie," he said quietly.

"No."

"I’m sorry."

"No."

He flinched.

"I don’t want your sorry right now," she said. "I wanted one night where I didn’t feel like some poor girl borrowing someone else’s life, and you walked in and made sure everyone knew exactly what I was."

His eyes sharpened with pain. "That’s not what you are."

"It is what you made me feel like."

That shut him up.

The restaurant door opened behind them.

Mrs. Robinson stepped outside, one hand holding Jason’s smaller one. Jason’s shirt had a damp patch down the front, but his eyes went straight to Roxie’s face.

"Roxie?" Jason asked.

Roxie turned away quickly and wiped her cheeks. "I’m okay."

Mrs. Robinson looked from Roxie to Zac.

Her expression cooled.

"Roxie," she said gently, "would you like to come inside?"

Roxie nodded because if she tried to speak, she might fall apart.

Mrs. Robinson looked at Zac once.

"Go home," she said.

Zac stood there, silent.

Roxie walked past him with Jason’s small hand slipping into hers.

He squeezed her fingers.

"You can have my dessert," Jason whispered.

That did it.

The tears came fast, and Roxie hated herself for every single one.

She followed Mrs. Robinson back into the restaurant without looking at Zac again.

Behind her, the door closed.

And this time, Zac was the one left outside.