He couldn’t let her suffer alone.
During the bridge, Jamie crossed to his guitarist, Garrett. He turned his back to the crowd. “Stretch out that solo as long as you can,” Jamie shouted, leaning in.
Garrett nodded, his mop of dark hair swinging over his eyes. Yet, he couldn’t mask his bewilderment—along with everyone else in that stadium—when Jamie stormed off stage.
Brinton was hyperventilating,her face sticky with tears. She couldn’t make them stop, couldn’t breathe. Her chest clenched, a warning that if she didn’t inhale soon, if she didn’tmove, the mounting pressure would crush her bonesand squeeze her organs, until there was nothing left. That’s what her panic felt like: a ravenous black hole.
Then, Jamie’s guitar scraped against the pavement. She could barely make out his body’s distinct lines, which she’d come to catalogue like a fingerprint. Still, she felt his presence beside her. He bent down on one knee.
“Brinton, honey, you’re okay,” he said slowly, cautiously, as if soothing a spooked horse. “I’m here with you.”
“No—you can’t,” she yelped, surprised that her voice still worked. It came out mangled, the words compressed cement-tight, congesting her airways. “The show. You have to play,” she gasped, hands gripping the back of her skull. “You can’t behere.”
Jamie projected confidence, doing what he loved. She couldn’t help but admire him. And yet she was fucking everything up for him.
Gently, Jamie grasped one of her trembling hands, bringing it to his soft, smooth lips.
“I-I don’t know what happened,” Sammi told him, eyes wide and gripping her sides. “Said she needed some air.”
Brinton had started spinning out that afternoon, during her confrontation with Rich. Then, she spent many more hours spinning out at the guest house, as she tried to piece together a workable draft to send him. Eventually, she did, and hightailed it back to the concert.
Brinton hated her misfiring brain. The lightning-hot stage lights, wall of screaming fans, and Rich’s threats were a powder keg for another surprise panic attack.
She tried to ground herself with five things she could see. Four things she could touch. Three things she could hear. But her vision blurred and hands went numb.
It wasn’t fucking working.
“Son, you gotta get back out there,” Tex said, exasperated. “We’ll take care of this.”
“I’m not leaving her.” Jamie’s voice was like iron. He didn’t shift his eyes from hers. “Sweetheart, keep your eyes on me. Don’t worry about anything else going on. Can you do that for me, Bee? Take one deep breath, please?”
She did. The snarled knot in her throat unspooled. She could see, even faintly, that when Eli and everyone else had pushed her away, Jamie had runtoher. He was a safety net, breaking her fall. Finally, she started to catch her breath.
He squeezed her hand and breathed right along with her, smoothing the tears away from her cheeks with his thumb. “Good, honey. You’re doing so good. Keep your eyes on me and keep breathing.”
“She all right?”
It was Jamie’s father. Brinton hadn’t noticed when he approached, but his disapproval clotted the air nonetheless. The volcanic heat of embarrassment and fear seized from the pit of her belly, but she followed Jamie’s steady breathing. Let herself hold on to him.
“She will be,” Jamie answered. “Give her some space. Please.”
His father grunted, then stalked toward a flight of stairs leading backstage, where a trio of suited executives received him like loyal supplicants.
“Have Michael take her back home, will you?” Jamie asked Sammi.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll go back with her.”
“Thank you,” Jamie said. He kissed Brinton’s forehead. “I swear, you’re gonna be okay, after some rest. I’m gonna be home soon to take care of you.”
But what about all the commitments he had? All the hands to shake and self-righteous jackasses to play nice with, so he could continue doing the thing he loved most? He couldn’t throw that away, not forher.
The waiting crowd, now a unified, jeering chorus, had turned on him. It was her fault.
“But—”
“Woman, that’s not up for discussion.” Sweetness emanated from his smile. “I said, I’m gonna take care of you.”
Brinton nodded. He helped her to her feet.
