Breathe (sea Breeze, #1)

Seventeen-year-old Sadie White has spent her life as the responsible adult in a household run by her irresponsible mother, Jessica. A former beauty queen from Arkansas, Jessica became pregnant by a married man in Nashville, never received support from him, and eventually moved them to the coast of southern Alabama for a fresh start. Now pregnant again by another uninvolved man, she relies on Sadie to pay bills, cook meals, and manage their finances.

When Jessica is too far along in her pregnancy to continue her housekeeping job at a mansion on an exclusive island off Sea Breeze, Alabama, she sends Sadie in her place. Ms. Mary, the stern but warm head of the household staff, gives the teenager a one-day trial. Sadie works so diligently that Ms. Mary hires her for the summer. Sadie soon learns that the house belongs to Jax Stone, a world-famous teen rock star, and that any breach of his privacy will mean immediate termination.

Jax has just finished an exhausting concert tour and craves the anonymity his family's summer home provides. While cleaning his bedroom, Sadie discovers childhood Little League jerseys and a wall of guitars, including the small, worn instrument that launched his career. As she rushes to leave before the family arrives, she turns to find Jax watching her with an amused smile. That evening, serving dinner alongside Marcus Hardy, a friendly college-aged coworker, Sadie catches Jax's attention again. When Jax's mother, Mrs. Stone, retires for the night, Sadie serves Jax dessert alone. He suspects she infiltrated the household as a fan, but she explains she took the job to pay rent. Jax expresses a desire for friendship with someone who does not care about his fame, and Sadie admits she has never had a real friend.

Over the following days, Jax resolves to keep his distance but cannot stop watching Sadie from his window. Meanwhile, Marcus introduces Sadie to his circle of friends, giving her a first taste of normal teenage socializing. Jax's restraint breaks one afternoon when he walks Sadie along the private beach. She opens up about her absent father and her role as the sole provider at home. At a grocery store afterward, a young girl recognizes Jax, and he kneels to sign autographs and arrange backstage passes after learning her father was killed overseas. Sadie is moved to tears by his kindness.

Despite this deepening connection, Jax pulls back. At a party he hosts, a guest grabs Sadie's arm aggressively, and Jax intervenes furiously. He shows her tabloid magazines about his life and tells her she is "everything I write about in my songs but can never have" (92). Days later, Jax interrupts as Marcus is about to confess romantic feelings to Sadie on the beach. Jax admits his jealousy and asks her to spend the summer with him. She whispers that she wants whatever part of him she can have, and they embrace.

Their relationship begins in earnest. Jax joins Sadie for breakfast each morning, plays guitar for her, and gives her an iPod loaded with his music. When he offers to pay her bills, she firmly refuses, insisting she must earn her own money. Jax arranges a private movie screening where they share their first kiss. A crisis of trust arises when pop star Star Holloway—a fellow teen celebrity whom tabloids have long linked romantically with Jax—arrives unannounced and Jax spends a full day consoling her over a personal heartbreak without returning to find Sadie. Marcus tells Sadie about the tabloid history linking Star to Jax, and Sadie is hurt. Jax explains that Star has always been only a friend, and they reconcile.

At a July Fourth party, Jax accompanies Sadie publicly for the first time. They dance on the moonlit beach, and back at the mansion they consummate their relationship. Afterward, they exchange declarations of love.

When publicity photos surface of Jax posing with actress Bailey Kirk—whose publicist arranged the shoot for film promotion—at a staged event, Marcus shows them to Sadie, who is devastated. Overcome by his own feelings, Marcus kisses Sadie, but she pushes him away. Jax's younger brother, Jason Stone, witnesses the kiss from a window and alerts Jax, who calls in a fury. Jax explains the Kirk photos were arranged for movie promotion, and Marcus quits before Jax can fire him.

The fragile peace shatters when photos of Jax and Sadie from the July Fourth party reach national media. Coverage portrays Sadie as either a gold-digging maid or a naive girl exploited by a rock star. In a painful conversation, Jax tells Sadie his life is incompatible with hers and that the media scrutiny will never stop. He asks her to get out of the car, telling her love is not enough. His bodyguard, Kane, opens the door, and Sadie stumbles to her apartment and collapses into Jessica's arms.

Jax leaves Sea Breeze. Jason tries to stop him, telling his brother that Sadie brought back the real Jax, but Jax cannot stay. Sadie retreats to her bedroom and refuses to eat or move for days. Marcus, contacted by Jessica, climbs through Sadie's window, coaxes her to drink water and eat, and walks her to the beach. Ms. Mary secures Sadie a filing job at a local lawyer's office. Days later, Sadie hears Jax's new number-one single, "Don't Cry," on the radio and recognizes chords he composed in the gazebo while they were together.

Jessica gives birth weeks early to a boy she names Sam. Sadie instantly falls in love with her baby brother. Sam develops colic and cries through the night. Sadie stays up with him every evening while Jessica sinks into postpartum depression, neglecting feedings and handing the baby to Sadie the moment she arrives home. Marcus leaves for college. School begins, and Sadie is treated as a local celebrity, with students requesting autographs and a jealous classmate cruelly showing her a magazine photo of Jax with another girl. Amanda Hardy, Marcus's younger sister, tells Sadie she must toughen up.

Running on almost no sleep while juggling school, work, and full-time care of Sam, Sadie's body gives out. She faints on her bike, cracks her skull on the pavement, and falls into a coma. Ms. Mary calls Jax, who flies to Sea Breeze and refuses to leave Sadie's bedside for a week, singing to her for hours each day.

After seven days, Sadie squeezes Jax's hand and opens her eyes. He explains that Sam is safe with Ms. Mary and that Jessica has been admitted to a clinic for postpartum depression treatment at his expense. Marcus visits and admits he has released most of his resentment toward Jax after witnessing his devotion.

Jax tells Sadie he can never walk away again. He will return one week each month while she finishes her senior year, and Kane will drive her to school daily. At the homecoming dance, Jax surprises Sadie by appearing in person, having left a concert early. They dance, then walk to the beach, where he tells her that when she graduates he intends to take her with him. Sadie says she wants to attend college in California to be near him, and Jax promises to make it happen. He tells her she is his present and his future, and they leave the dance together, stepping toward their shared future.