Page 42 of Trust Fund Baby

“Not tonight,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.

He studied me for a beat longer, then tipped his head toward the crashing waves beyond the bonfire. “Alright. Then let’s do something else instead.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Like what?”

A slow, dangerous grin spread across his face. “Skinny dip. Right now. Ocean’s calling.”

I blinked at him. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Definitely,” he said. “But you knew that about me already.”

He was already shrugging off his button-down. “Come on, Rox. It’s tradition. Summer. Bonfire. Skinny dip. Don’t tell me you’ve gotten too boring to jump in.”

“You are so—”

“Charming? Daring? Handsome?” He tossed the shirt over a log and kicked off his shoes.

“Infuriating,” I finished, trying not to let my eyes drop to his bare chest. Failing.

He backed toward the water, walking backward across the sand with a boyish glint in his eyes. “Are you coming, or do I have to do this alone?”

Then I rolled my eyes, kicked off my sandals, and started after him. There was no way I was letting him win.

“Last one in owes the other a kiss,” he called over his shoulder.

“Not how dares work, Whittaker!”

“You don’t make the rules, Rox. A dare’s a dare.”

And then he ran—laughter floating in the air after him. The two of us sprinted as fast as we could toward the water. Right past James and Hallie who were staring at us with their mouths slack-jawed.

And just like that, I really did feel like we were seventeen again.

15

Seb

Back at the house, the salt on my skin and the ocean’s hum were still with me, making sleep nearly impossible.

Barefoot on the deck, I held a cold beer and gazed at the pool as the gentle lapping of the water filled the air. The lights inside were off. Hallie and James had excused themselves and headed upstairs the instant we were home. Roxie had gone to her room too, as much as I’d hoped she might stay up for another night cap with me.

I couldn’t go to my own room now even if I wanted. For one thing, there was no way I was going to sleep anytime soon. And for another, James would probably kill me if I interrupted whatever he and Hallie might be up to right now.

I figured Roxie had gone to sleep, but when I saw a light flicker on in the boathouse, down a winding path behind the house, there was only one person it could be.

I didn’t think. I just moved.

I headed down the stairs of the deck, across the cool stone outlining the pool where the moonlight shimmered. The night was thick with the scent of salt and sunscreen, smoke from the earlier bonfire still lingering faintly in the air and on my skin.

My bare feet hit the sandy path that led toward the boathouse and then to the beach, and every step closer wound me tighter. Not with nerves. With something else. Anticipation or inevitability.

The boathouse, its frame weathered and gray, was tucked into the dunes, as if it were a secret being whispered by the sea. During the summers when James invited me over, we would sneak down here, away from his parents, to smoke our first cigarette and talk about the girls we liked that summer. I never mentioned Roxie, who was always mine.

Back then, this place had felt like a mini oasis. Tonight, it presented itself as a dare. To enter or not.

The old wooden door cracked open just an inch, which was enough to spill a sliver of warm yellow light into the sand outside. I knocked once as I stepped inside, more out of instinct than anything.

She didn’t turn. Just sat cross-legged on the couch in the corner, wearing an old crew team hoodie I recognized from high school. It was almost jarring how much she looked like the Roxie I knew from back then. As if I’d walked into the boathouse and had been transported back to the kid who had followed her around like a lovesick puppy.