"Hmm.Impressive," he says, in that way that means he doesn't find it impressive at all.He cuts his steak slowly."So, you're living together?"
"No," I say.
"But you plan to?"
"Eventually," Skye answers.
Her dad narrows his eyes."You're her professor.Or were.Isn't that a conflict of interest?"
"Dad," she snaps.
"I just want to understand what kind of man gets involved with a student while she's still earning her degree."
I open my mouth, but Skye is already pushing back her chair, face flushed."Listen, I get it.You feel bad.You weren't around.You're trying now.But you don't get to interrogate him like this."
Her dad leans back, expression hard."I'm still your father."
“Allen,” Lauren says quietly, placing her hand on his arm.I can see him visibly relax under his wife’s touch.
Skye points her fork at him."The cleaning lady you paid for ten years has more of a right to grill him than you do.When I got sick, you weren't there.You didn't know I had to have stitches when I fell off my bike.You missed my first day of school, my first period, and my first heartbreak.So, you don’t have the right to swoop in now and pretend you get to approve of my choices."
The air leaves the room in one collective breath.Even I don't move.
Her father's jaw tics."That's enough, Skye."
"No," I say, meeting his eyes."It's not.And it won't happen again.You don't get to speak to her like that.Not here.Not ever."
He levels me with a sharp look."And who are you to tell me that?"
"I'm the man who loves her.Who's been there.I'm the one who held her while she cried, who challenged her to go after her dreams, and who watched her turn into one of the most incredible women I've ever met.And she doesn't need your money, sir.I'll be paying for the rest of her schooling myself."
"You think that buys you something?You think love is a shield?That it makes up for your mistakes?"
"No," I say calmly."It doesn't erase anything.But it means I stand with her.Through everything.It means I protect her when someone, even someone who shares her blood, tries to tear her down.It means I cut the strings holding her down so she can fly.If you want a relationship with her, work at it, and this isn't the way."
Skye reaches for my hand under the table, squeezing it tightly.
Her father looks between us, a thousand thoughts crossing his face, none of them settling.
"You're right," he finally says, voice low."I wasn't there.I failed."
Skye's breath catches.
"But if I had been," he continues, "I would've wanted to be the kind of man who protects her like you just did."
Silence stretches thick between us.
"Then start now," I say."If you mean it, start showing up."
He nods once, clipped."That's fair."
Dinner continues with less hostility, but the tension never fully fades.Still, by the time we leave, it's not the war zone it was when we walked in.
She's silent in the car until we pull into the driveway.I glance over.
"You okay?"
She nods slowly."Yeah.It just...took a lot out of me.Saying all that.Hearing him say he failed.Watching you stand up for me."