Page 58 of Trust Fund Baby

I froze for a second, realizing that somehow, Winn knew about Sebastian. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I saw your social media posts from Memorial Day weekend, Roxie.” Winn leveled me with a look. “I’m not dumb.”

Roxie, you’re an idiot. Once again.

My stomach dipped. Of course he’d seen them. He looked at every single one of my social media stories. I hadn’t been thinking at the time when I posted pictures from the sailboat or the house and how Sebastian had been in the background of nearly all of them.

“They were just pictures,” I said, aiming for breezy, but my voice caught in a way that made Winn’s brow lift.

“Pictures with him,” he pressed, setting down the sanding block. The sound of it thunking against the wood felt heavier than it should have. “You think I wouldn’t recognize the guy who spent half his teenage years in our backyard?”

I exhaled through my nose. “You hated him back then.”

“Yeah,” Winn said without hesitation. “Because I could see where it was heading. And guess what? I was right. That kid never had to be held accountable for a single thing. He never had to work for an ounce of what was handed to him. Life was never serious for him, and my guess is that hasn’t changed.”

There it was—the judgment I’d been trying to avoid. I opened my mouth to deflect, but he beat me to it.

“What happened this time?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Roxie.” His voice dropped, quieter now. “You’ve been snappier than a cornered raccoon at family dinners. You’ve been coming here like this is some kind of safe house. Something happened.”

The silence between us was filled with the hum of the old shop fan in the corner, its slow, lazy rotation doing little to cut the tension. I could feel him waiting, the way he always did in cross-examinations—patient, unyielding, knowing eventually someone would crack.

I ran a fingertip along the edge of his workbench. “His best friend is dating Hallie. Pure coincidence, but it brought the two of us back into each other’s lives.”

Winn’s brows knit. “And you didn’t think to maybe … avoid him?”

I shot him a look. “Oh, sure. I’ll start skipping my best friend’s life events so I can pretend Sebastian Whittaker doesn’t exist. That’s healthy. Is that what you do, Winn? Avoid important life events by working?”

“We are talking about you, not me,” he muttered, but his tone had softened. He reached for the sanding block again, working the edge of the board until it gleamed under the morning light. “So, what’s the damage this time?”

“There’s no damage,” I lied automatically.

Winn snorted. “You’re a terrible liar.”

I picked at another curl of wood, not meeting his eyes. “He wanted a second chance—to be friends, to start fresh.”

Winn rolled his eyes as he kept working on his project. “Friends.” He said the word like it tasted bad. “I’m not sure Sebastian Whittaker could ever be considered a good friend.”

“Not everything has to be some grand betrayal, Winn,” I said, though my voice lacked the conviction I wanted it to have.

He didn’t look up. “With him, it usually does.”

I let out a breath, the kind that tried to pass for a laugh but ended up sounding more like surrender. “I get it. You don’t like him.”

“I think I’ve made that clear.” Winn set the sanding block down, finally meeting my gaze. “I’ve seen this movie before, Rox. And I know how it ends.”

“I thought it would be different this time,” I whispered, the words hanging in the silent air.

Winn moved on to a different block of wood, repeating the chiseling and sanding process. He finally looked up at me again with that unshakable mix of concern and frustration. “You’re hoping it’ll be different. But he’s not the kind of guy who changes.”

I shrugged, running a hand through my hair. “Maybe I’m a sucker for bad sequels.”

He let out a low chuckle that lacked any of the humor he’d probably intended to soften it and shook his head. “You always were stubborn.”

“You’re not seventeen anymore,” Winn said after a long moment. “You’ve got more to lose now. He screws up again, it’s not just your heart—it’s everything you’ve built for yourself since him.”