Sea Breeze 01 - Breathe

nothing is getting me to throw those at you. However, if I can hear you play on that guitar, the first song you ever played, I’ll see what I can do about turning into putty.”
    He sighed playfully and sat down on the edge of his bed. He patted the spot next to him, and I sat down. “I’m 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. If only he was a normal guy and not a rock star then this thing between us would be so easy. But I’d chosen this when I had said yes to our spending the summer together. I knew walking into it exactly who Jax was, and I couldn’t change it. 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 I loved as a kid.”
    “You don’t still love the song?” I asked.
    Jax sighed and a sad smile touched his face. “Yeah, it means something different for me now than it did then. When I was a kid I wanted to be a cowboy. But that isn’t really what the song is about. It’s about this life I lead. The craziness of it all. I relate to it better now than I did then.”
    He hung the guitar back up on the wall.
    A knock sounded on the door, and Jason entered. He noticed me and stopped. “Uh, sorry, I didn’t realize you had 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’d said wrong, but he gazed straight into my eyes very seriously for what seemed an eternity. A smile slowly 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 into the top ten. From then on, he was given free rein to decide what he sang on his albums.”
    I nodded.
    Jax stood by the bed with the other guitar, 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 eighties 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