Page 48 of Snapshot

“That’s complicated,” he says, pinching one eye shut. “It’s my family’s money…old money. I don’t technically make it.”

He stops his explanation there, probably thinking he’s off the hook. I narrow my eyes and point right at his chest. “No. No way. You just asked me to marry you. No more secrets, half-truths, and most definitely no more family deaths that you hide from your friends. If you want my help, you better start talking.”

He blows out a long, steady breath. “It’s not like it’s all cash in my pocket or anything, but with assets, property, the company…I don’t know. My net worth is somewhere in the ballpark of eighteen billion.” He scours my face, reading something I can’t see. “And that look right there is exactly why I didn’t tell you all this.”

“What look?” I relax my face, wiping away the evidence of whatever he just saw.

He sucks in his lips. “Money changes people. Anda lotof money usually changes them in bad ways.”

His words knock the wind out of me, mostly because I wasn’t expecting that response. Like when a punching bag swings back and knocks you down on your ass. “So, you lie to all of your friends because you don’t want us coming after your money?” I let out a bitter chuckle and nod. I’m too sober for this.I’m tired.I’ve carried this stupid crush for three years on a man I obviously don’t know.

“No. That’snotwhat I meant,” he pleads.

“Dex, you don’t need me,” I say, looking over my shoulder at the bar entrance. “You clearly have options. And right now, honestly, it feels like you’re a stranger. So, no. I can’t marry you, even for a year.” But I reach out and run my fingers lightly across his forearm. “But I’m really sorry about your grandma. If you ever want to talk, I’ll be here.”

I turn to head back to the bikers and booze but am yanked back. “Please, wait.” Inhumanly fast, Dex weaves his fingers between mine, holding my hand with a death grip.

“I’m not into fancy things. My only real vices are expensive liquor and dive trips.” He rushes his words out like he’s on a timer. “One time, I wanted to see this shipwreck in a remote part of Nova Scotia, and they didn’t have enough passengers to justify the tour, so I just bought the whole damn yacht and made them take me out. My favorite food is Cubanos—but only if they’re authentic. I’ve never broken a bone, but I have had stitches. Sliced my foot open on a broken glass bottle on the beach. Um, let’s see what else… My birthday is February eighteenth. I have the same birthday as my mom. I never tell anyone that because I don’t celebrate outside of this tradition I have with my grandma. Every year for our birthday, we’d eat at a burger place called Rooster’s. They have the most ridiculous menu, and they are always changing it and trying crazy stuff. There’s a peanut butter jelly turkey burger on the menu.”

I pinch my face in disgust, and Dex raises his brows.

“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. And anyway, it’s not about the food. It’s just a place my grandma and I felt close to her. I was only seven when she died from a stroke nobody saw coming. I lost my mom; Grandma lost her daughter. As devastating as it was, after a while, my grandpa, her friends, and everyone else just seemed to move on. But not Grandma and me. We kind of stood there, watching in shock as the world kept spinning for everybody. So, once a year, on me and Mom’s birthday, Grandma and I would go get a burger and a confetti birthday shake and sit there dumbfounded that no one else seemed to still be missing her like we were.”

I’m quiet and completely still, like I’m trying not to startle a deer away. I’ve known Dex for three years, and I’ve learned more about him in the last two minutes than I have in all those yearscombined. I want to hear more, except now he’s staring at me like it’s my turn to speak. I clear my throat and say the first thing that comes to mind. “Dex, that’s the most heartbreaking story I’ve ever heard. Are you…trying to guilt me into marrying you?”

He shakes his head like it’s preposterous. “No.” Then his smile turns just a touch mischievous. “Would that work?”

“So, you made all that up?” I ask, my tone turning glacial.

“No. Not at all. Rooster’s is very much real. The confetti birthday cake shake is epic. They put little frozen pieces of cake in it and globs of chocolate frosting.” His smirk fades before he adds, “This year, I’ll be there alone because I just lost the last person on earth that I love. Len, I’m not telling you all of this to get you to do anything. I’m simply trying to open up because I can’t stand the idea of you feeling like I’m a stranger.” He squeezes my hand. “I’ll tell you whatever it takes to keep you from walking away from me. I don’t know how to explain what you mean to me.”

“Try.” I wiggle my hand free of his and place it on my hip. I’m sure I have an unsettling resemblance to my mom at the moment. I’m even fighting the urge to tap my foot. But I stare into Dex’s eyes and prepare myself to ask the question I’ve been wrestling with for years. “What do I mean to you, Dex?”

He fishes his wallet out of his back pocket. I never paid attention before, but after tonight’s shocking revelation, I can’t help but notice that Dex’s wallet is sleek and black. There’s no huge wad of cash in there. There also aren’t many cards. Just one black card that’s probably as powerful as one hundred high-limit credit cards.

He pulls out a faded folded bill from behind his ID, resting in the dedicated plastic compartment. “Here,” he says, then hands it to me. I see the thick ten on the right corner.

“I’m not a gold digger or anything, but knowing how rich you are, this is kind of insulting.” I smirk.

“So sassy,” he mumbles under his breath. He takes the bill back and unfolds it carefully so I can see the purple nail polish mark at the top right corner. Looking pleased, he places it back in my palm.

It literally feels like the air is sucked out of my lungs. I try to inhale, but nothing happens. “This is?” I ask, somehow managing the two words through my breathlessness.

“From the first time we met. My souvenir,” he says.

There are little tells that he’s nervous. Not on his expression, that’s completely composed. Dex has a bulletproof poker face. It’s how his thumb is subtly twitching, so he tucks it into his fist. His jaw is clenched and he’s so still, like he stopped breathing as well.

I run my finger over the glittery purple nail polish streak. The polish is still vibrant even though the bill looks worse for wear. All this time, he didn’t just keep it.

He kept it close.

I’m stuffed to the brim with conflicting emotions. When they finally burst free, what comes out of my mouth is an awkward, almost-deranged chuckle. “I gave a billionaire ten dollars for beer.”

“What?” Dex asks, his brows furrowing.

“You must’ve thought I was pathetic.”

“Lennox, that ten-dollar bill told me everything I needed to know about you in only one gesture. Look…people typically either like me or hate me for what I have. They judge my worth by what I can or can’t do for them. I’ve had disposable relationships my whole life until you. I think you were the first person to…” He shrugs.

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