Breathe (Sea Breeze #1)(21)
Author: Abbi Glines

He sighed playfully and sat down on the edge of his bed. He patted the spot next to him, and I sat down beside him. “I am working with a handicap of an old worn out guitar and a song I haven’t played in years, but if this is what it takes to impress you, then here goes nothing.” He began to play and soon his voice joined the guitar.

If he had been aiming for putty, he succeeded because the sound of his voice made me warm all over. I wanted to close my eyes and picture the little boy in his room on Christmas morning. I could see the boy before he had become a star. The wish that he was normal, and not famous, grew stronger. I felt guilty, but I couldn’t make it go away. If only he were a regular guy who played the guitar well and sang for me on dates down by the water. I let myself look at him as he sang the words, with a grin on his face. I pictured him singing to himself as a boy, as he roamed the outdoors pretending to be a cowboy.

The song came to a close, and he grinned at me. “Well, what did you think?”

I smiled back. “Perfect.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Most girls want love sonnets, and you want a song about a cowboy wanted dead or alive.”

He hung the guitar back up on the wall.

A knock sounded on the door, and Jason Stone entered. He noticed me and stopped. “Uh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were with company. I just walked by and heard you playing that old song and thought I would stop in and see what the reminiscing was about.”

Jax turned and grinned at his brother. “It’s okay. You can come in.”

Jason stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

“I brought Sadie in here to play one of her favorite number ones I’ve done, and come to find out, she didn’t have one. She doesn’t like me at all.”

I laughed at his expression, and Jason’s shocked look instantly went to a smile when he realized his brother meant to tease me.

“Not true. I happen to really like the song you sang about fighting to find yourself.”

Jax reached for another guitar and froze. He turned back to me. I didn’t know what I said wrong, but he gazed straight into my eyes very seriously for what seemed an eternity. Slowly, a smile formed on his perfect lips right before he asked, “Really?”

I nodded, not sure why this surprised him.

“Me, too,” he finally said, before taking down the other guitar.

I glanced over at his brother, confused, and Jason smiled at me.

“‘Inside War’ was the first song Jax ever wrote. He fought tooth and nail to get it released. Up until that point in his career, he’d recorded songs written by other people. He fought hard for ‘Inside War,’ and it never made it all the way to number one, but got in the top ten. From then on, he was given more free reign on what he sang on his albums.”

I nodded.

Jax had retrieved another guitar and stood by the bed watching me. “Most girls like my love songs.” He shrugged. “You keep surprising me.”

I tried to remember a love song he’d recorded, but none came to mind. At home, Jessica forced me to listen to 80s music. She listened to little else. Music wasn’t something I knew a lot about.

“Okay, sing me one of those famous love songs.”

He grinned and played a soft smooth melody. Soon his voice joined in, and I found myself unable to take my eyes off of him.

“Just to make your eyes sparkle, I’d do anything. I could give it all up to know you were my girl. Just being with you and listening to your laugh is what makes up my other half. I was lost and cold inside when your heart called out to mine. Now I know you’re the only thing that keeps me hanging on, when the rest of the world seems to come crashing down.

“Don’t leave me now! I’ll never make it! Don’t leave me now. I’m not strong enough! You’re the reason I can take this guitar and make it sing. Don’t leave me now, or I’ll fall apart.

“I know sometimes life with me is hard to handle. I get caught up in the lights and the crowd. But you’re the reason I keep on playing. Without you girl, it would all die down. Hold onto me through this ride please, because if you let go I will too. If the sparkle in your eyes starts to fade, my heart won’t beat and my song will disappear.

“Don’t leave me now! I’ll never make it! Don’t leave me now. I’m not strong enough! You’re the reason I can take this guitar and make it sing. Don’t leave me now, or I’ll fall apart. Don’t leave me now, or I’ll fall apart. Girl, if you leave me, it will all fall apart.”

His smooth, husky voice stopped, and the guitar playing slowed. When the song ended, I stared at him unable to say anything.

He smiled sheepishly. “The first number one I actually wrote. It’s the song girls always want to hear.”

I smiled, and then sighed. “I wish I could make a wisecrack, but after that performance, I’m torn between standing up and clapping or swooning.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Ah, finally!”

“I wish I’d learned to play the guitar. I have never seen a girl not get reeled in when he breaks into a love song,” Jason said.

I shrugged in defeat. “I wish I could argue, but I have to admit, watching him sing that song and play the guitar is incredibly hard to resist. I have heard it before, but never with the view he just gave me, and I will never turn the station when it comes on again.”

Jason burst into laughter, and Jax grinned at me. “You couldn’t let it go without reminding me how unaffected you are by who I am, could you?”

“We wouldn’t want you to get a big head.”

Jason laughed again. “His head has been big since the first time he realized he was a prodigy.”

“I’m just teasing. I have never turned your songs off. The truth is I hardly ever listen to the radio. We have one radio at our house, and my mother loves the 80s. I know more songs from that time frame than I do current songs.”

“I hate 80s music, and I’m very sorry for you,” Jason said with sincerity.

I smiled and shrugged. “It’s not so bad when it’s all you’ve ever known.”

Jason raised his eyebrows like he wasn’t so sure. “Ah, yeah, sure,” he said and grimaced.

Jason looked behind me at Jax, and then cleared his voice and stood up. “Um, well, I guess I will be going. I got somewhere to be. See ya later, Sadie.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Yeah, see ya.”

I turned my attention to Jax after his brother’s hasty departure. “Why did you run him off?”