Filed to story: Breathe Story (Sadie White & Jax Stone)
He slipped a curl behind my ear. “I’ve never met anyone who has seen past the star and found the real me inside. But even if you hadn’t found the Jax the world doesn’t know, I would be yours. When you smiled at me that first time, I was a goner. I just got lucky with the rest of you.”
I wanted to lean into him but I didn’t.
“Come on, let’s go for a walk before I start kissing you again and am forced to use superhuman will power to stop myself.”
I laughed, and we climbed out of the Hummer. As we walked toward the water’s edge, Jax took my hand in his.
The night breeze and sounds of the waves were soothing. It was easy to forget reality out here.
“When I came home last night, I wanted to call you right away and realized I couldn’t. It proved really hard to go to sleep without hearing your voice and knowing you were okay,” Jax admitted.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t call me, but it makes me happy to know you missed me too.”
He laughed. “I didn’t just miss you. I obsessed over what you were doing and if you were okay and who you were talking to. I realized I am going to have a really hard time when the summer is over.”
He stopped, and I turned to him.
“I have a charity event I have to be at next week. They are auctioning off some of my things, and I have to be there too. I want you to come with me.”
My heart hammered in my chest. Going with him into his world wasn’t something I ever expected to do. “I don’t know. I have work and Mom.”
“Please, for me. Don’t make me go again without you.”
I turned away from his pleading eyes. They made me want to promise him anything. “Jax, I won’t fit into your world. I don’t have any clothes to wear to something like that, and I have no idea what to say to people or how to act, and the cameras will make me a nervous wreck.”
He stepped up behind me, pulled me up against him, and rested his chin on my head. “You will be dressed by my personal stylist, and you won’t have to speak to anyone but me. Yes, the cameras will be going, but all you have to do is smile. I’ll never leave you alone, except when I have to sing, and then you can stand backstage and wait for me.”
I wanted to make him happy. I wanted to know every part of his life, but it terrified me. “I don’t know,” I whispered.
We stood there for a long time without words.
Finally, he turned me around to face him. “Please, I need my air.”
My resolve crumbled, and I nodded. “Okay, I’ll talk to Mom.”
His earnest face broke into a grin, and he kissed me again. He held back, and it made me want to press closer. He pulled back before I could press him.
“You taste so good,” he whispered. He ran his fingers through my hair and curled a strand around his fingers. “I love your hair,” he said softly and continued playing with it.
My face burned with an incredible heat.
“Too late. I’ve already seen the blush. Stop trying to hide it from me. I think it’s adorable.”
Breathe
Ms. Mary started fussing over me the moment I walked in the door. Jax smiled and enjoyed it immensely as I assured her that Jessica and I were both fine.
“Girl your age havin’ to run her mama to the doctor in the middle of the night ain’t right I tell ya. You’re too young to be sleeping in a waiting room all by yourself.” She turned and pointed her spoon at Jax. “You should have been there. What good are you if you ain’t there when she needs you.”
“Ms. Mary, he didn’t know about it either. I didn’t call anyone. You can’t blame Jax for anything.”