Page 84 of Trust Fund Baby

“That’s not—”

“You don’t get to argue.” My voice cracked on the words, but I didn’t let him see it. I pulled his jacket tighter around me and turned toward the house. “I shouldn’t have come out here. I’m not doing this again. I won’t.”

“Roxie! Wait, please.”

I didn’t. My heels bit into the flagstones as I strode for the doors, his jacket heavy around me like proof of everything I couldn’t afford to feel. I could hear his footsteps behind me, faster than mine, closing the space until his hand caught my wrist.

“Don’t walk away from me.” His voice was laced with desperation.

I spun around, more from instinct than choice, my breath sharp in the cold. “What do you want me to say, Sebastian? That I’m still stupid enough to ever have believed in us? That part of me even wants to throw myself right back into the same fire I barely crawled out of last time?”

His eyes were aflame as he held on fast to my wrist. “I never asked you to crawl out. I’ve made it very clear that I wanted to give us another try, Roxie.”

I let out a humorless laugh, shaking my head. “That’s the problem. You never ask. You just live in your world and expect me to keep up. You lead and expect me to follow.”

“You think that’s what I want? This is what I want? The tuxes, the parties, the handshakes with people who don’t give a damn about me unless I’ve got my father’s last name stamped across my chest?” He stepped closer, his breath mingling with mine, his green eyes blazing like I’d struck a nerve.

“Don’t act like that’s not who you are, Sebastian.” My laugh was sharp, brittle. “The drinking, the girls, the late nights. That’s all you’ve ever been. That’s what you’ll always choose.”

Hurt flickered in his eyes, but then it turned into determination and anger.

“That’s not me anymore. I haven’t had a drink in over five months, Roxie,” he said, voice low but steady.

The words cut through me like ice water. My throat worked around a lump I couldn’t swallow, but I forced myself to scoff. “So what, you want a medal?”

“I’m not asking for a medal,” he bit out, his grip tightening just enough that I felt his pulse thrumming against my skin. “I’m telling you because I’m trying. I’m not that guy anymore.”

I yanked my wrist free from his grasp, stepping back and shaking my head, a sudden emptiness blooming in my chest when his touch was gone. “You’ll always be that guy. And I’ll always be the stupid girl who falls for him and gets burned. I can’t do it again, Sebastian. I won’t. So please, just stay away from me.”

His voice cracked then, raw in a way I hadn’t heard since we were kids. “I don’t want anyone else, Roxie. I don’t want to lead. I don’t want to leave, like I did that morning in the Hamptons. I never meant to upset you. I would follow you anywhere if it meant I got another chance to make things right. Don’t you get that? I want you.”

The truth in his tone nearly undid me. Nearly.

But I’d built too many walls around my heart to let them crumble just because his green eyes looked like they might shatter. I pulled his jacket from around my shoulders and shoved it against his chest, leaving me cold instantly.

“You don’t really want me,” I whispered, my voice breaking even as I refused to meet his gaze. “You just want the version of us we were too stupid and young to realize wasn’t possible.”

Before he could respond, before he could chase me all over again, I turned on my heel and pushed through the glass doors, the swell of laughter and music swallowing me whole. My chest burned, my eyes blurred, but I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t.

Not when I knew if I looked back, I’d never leave at all.

Nate spotted me first when I reentered the main room. Once I was close enough, his easy grin faltered, and concern etched itself onto his face as he leaned in. “Are you okay? You disappeared for a few minutes there.”

I tugged the corners of my mouth into something resembling a smile, the kind that didn’t quite reach my eyes. “I’m fine. Just needed some air.”

If he noticed the tremor still in my hands, he didn’t press. Instead, he turned back to my grandfather, who was already mid-story about a new commercial development in Stamford that Nate’s family was helping with.

“Real estate is where the true legacy lies,” my grandfather declared, his voice booming over the low hum of the string quartet and clinking glasses. He gestured at Nate, clearly in his element. “This one gets it. You should see the project he’s overseeing in Manhattan.”

I slipped into the circle reluctantly, the warmth of Sebastian’s jacket still clinging faintly to my skin like a secret I wasn’t ready to admit.

“Roxie, darling,” my grandmother’s lilting voice cut through. She patted my arm, her eyes bright with pride. “Tell your grandfather about your new business with Hallie. It’s marvelous, isn’t it? I’ve been following all the reviews, and I must say, you’ve both really outdone yourselves.”

I swallowed, my smile feeling like the first genuine one of the night. “We’re proud of it. Some of our reviews have been picked up by larger companies and have gained more coverage.”

My grandfather grunted next to me as if our achievements were simply not worth his time. It silenced me faster than a slammed door, nearly transporting me back to that day in his office where he told me my photography would never amount to anything.