Page 77 of Trust Fund Baby

The words hit harder than I expected, like a fist to the ribs. For a second, all I heard was the rush of blood in my ears. Dating again. Of course, she was. She should be. Roxie deserved someone steady, someone who wouldn’t hurt her without even meaning to. Someone who wasn’t … me.

I forced a tight smile. “Good for her.”

James gave me a look, one that said he wasn’t buying my act. “She’s been going out a lot. Usually when I’m at the apartment. Hallie says it’s good for her. Healthy.”

My jaw clenched, the ache in my chest a strange mix of devastation and something that almost resembled happiness. If she was moving on, if she was finding pieces of joy I hadn’t been able to give her, wasn’t that what I should want for her?

Still, it hurt like hell.

“Right,” I muttered, dragging my gaze back to the building in front of us. “She deserves that.”

If Roxie was moving on, then I could too. I was rebuilding myself from the ground up. That was what I needed to concentrate on. I had already experienced the disastrous consequences of chasing after her while I was still aimlessly wandering through life. It was time that I spent some time focusing on myself first, without her. Even if it pained me.

I stared up at the building again, imagining scaffolding lining the brick, fresh paint, new windows that didn’t rattle with the wind. Families moving in. Kids dragging backpacks up the steps as they came here for after-school activities. Something real. Something that mattered.

James shoved his hands in his vest pockets and gave me one of his patented skeptical looks. “What’s the plan, exactly? Are you going to buy this place yourself?”

I nodded. “I have enough money set aside from my old salary at Whittaker Holdings. But that’s about it. I will need my father to help fund the restoration. I want to make the downstairs into a community food bank that also hosts weekly dinners for those who could never afford a nice sit-down meal to come in and experience one for free. Then, make the upstairs affordable housing. Rent capped so real people can live here without worrying about being able to afford it the next year.”

He let out a low whistle. “That’s a tall order. You’ve never even handled a project this size. Hell, I’ve never seen you balance your own checkbook. Not to mention how you’re going to get your dad to agree to all of this.”

I huffed a laugh, though there wasn’t much humor in it. “You’re not wrong. I’ve never managed something like this before. But maybe that’s the point. I can’t keep doing what I’ve always done and expect to become someone different.”

James arched a brow. “So, you’re telling me you’re going to waltz into your father’s office and pitch him a low-profit housing project and a community soup kitchen like it’s the next couture line?”

I bristled. “It’s not a ‘soup kitchen.’ It’s a meal. A dignified one. Do you know how many people in this city have never sat down in a restaurant in their entire lives? Not because they don’t want to, but because they can’t. You think they don’t deserve that experience? I’m sure it’s horrible feeling like the city you live in wasn’t built for you.”

For once, James didn’t cut me down with sarcasm. He just studied me; eyes narrowed in that way he did when he was trying to figure out whether I was bluffing. But I could see the gears whirring in his head as he crunched the numbers.

“And the housing?” he pressed.

I shrugged one shoulder, but my voice came out firm, driven by my conviction for this project. “The city’s bleeding people, James. The rich get richer; the poor get shoved out to the margins. I’m not saying I can fix it all overnight, but if I can give even twenty families a place where the rent doesn’t bankrupt them, that’s twenty families’ lives changed. That’s twenty families with new futures.”

He blew out a slow breath, leaning back on his heels. “And you really think your father will help?”

“I think he’ll help me if he sees I’ve thought it through. If he sees I’m not just floundering or rebelling for the sake of rebellion. He’s always respected initiative, and that was all he’s asked of me. And if he doesn’t? Then I’ll find another way.”

James tilted his head, something almost resembling a smile tugging at his mouth. “Since when did Sebastian Whittaker talk about ‘finding another way’ that didn’t involve a VIP list and three bottles of Dom? Or even doing something that doesn’t benefit him?”

“That’s where you’ve got this wrong. This benefits me, James. It gives me purpose.”

James’s arm clapped solidly around my back, and for a second, I just let myself breathe into the quiet weight of it. He wasn’t a guy who handed out sentiment easily, so the hug said more than words could.

When he pulled away, I cleared my throat, a half-smile tugging at my mouth. “Alright, enough about me. How are you and Hallie doing now that you’re official?”

The widest grin spread across James’s face as he thought about his girlfriend. “We’re good,” he said, a little too simply.

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? Good? I practically bared my soul to you about reinventing my entire life, and you gave me a one-word answer?”

He huffed a laugh, running a hand over his jaw. “You want details? I feel like the luckiest guy in the entire world. She’s beautiful, intelligent, ambitious, hilarious. And she supports every new idea I have, every new adventure I’d like to take with my own career. She feels like my safe space.”

I smirked. “Sounds like she’s domesticated you already.”

“Not domesticated,” he shot back, but his tone was lighter than usual, like he didn’t mind. “She just … makes the noise stop. You know?”

I did know. There was only ever one person in my life that could make all the noise stop. And she was out dating other people, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Subject: Maybe I’ve Finally Figured it Out