Blue243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPo8gS9ulJ
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4huetj17s
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVzErfUQY8
Even with his stepson living in the house, the sonofabitch won't spring for decent air conditioning. Or do much else to fix this place up. It's literally falling apart.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvhqnHk66P
Maybe it's precisely because Hunter lives here that his rich AF stepdad is such a cheapass. The two of them seem to despise each other. The one time I met him, the tension between him and Hunter was so thick, so weighted with contempt and hatred, that it actually made my relationship with my father look good.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPA87zw3YP
That kind of blew my mind.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAo4oQL62IV
I sit up and switch on the lamp next to my bed, then grab the guitar leaning against the nightstand. The instrument's dinged wood has almost as many battle scars as I do. But it's kept me sane, or at least saner than I would have been without it. No doubt in my mind about that.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3425tGNmsk
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgc67kKP1j
And I never even thanked him for it. I figured I'd have plenty of time later, after I let him suffer for all he put me through. All he put my mother through.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KIw4HRmva
But all of us ran out of time.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63H2yBkIMb
Sweat is soaking my back, and I can't stand to sit here any longer. "Fuck this," I mutter, jumping off the bed and heading out to the porch.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9D94fqhHR
I've still got the guitar clutched in one hand, and I'm thinking maybe I can play for a while out here where it's cooler. Maybe that will soothe the craziness in my brain enough that I can finally fall asleep.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6w842wll1
Slumping onto the squeaking porch swing gives me a sinking feeling, though. It's too damn noisy out here to focus on the music. Or on anything else, for that matter. A screeching army of cicadas is in full effect and has shattered my plans.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFo3lIIXh4
Frustrated, I swing back and forth for a few minutes, risking splinters by dragging my bare feet over the rough boards of the porch. I'm trying to empty my mind.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxIdmgJxEq
Then I realize I'm hearing noises above me. Still holding the guitar, I step off the porch and look up toward Keegan's room.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKvSJe2QWQ
And there she is, sitting on the roof near her bedroom window, dressed in some flimsy little pajama thing that, all by itself, is threatening to give me a friggin' hard-on.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01oAS2PWaW
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWJv2kxunZ
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV16Uz4K4X3
"Hey," I call up to her, crossing my legs in what I hope is a casual, not-trying-to-conceal-the-front-of-my-boxers kind of way, "you discovered the best spot in the entire house!" My words echo in the night air.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUsFRniqZt
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXj51jJxVbY
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzew9PFP9C
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyijDGzkQA
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCIGVpnnMq
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnto6BKPssr
I guess I should take the hint, stop being such a weirdo. But dammit, I'd like to get to know her better. We're going to be living together, after all.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIMfntXfHB
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinxsCjwCmK
Yeah, I should take the stairs to her room like a normal human being. But Blue-to-the-Rescue always likes to make a big entrance.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUhIM7ai6D
The guys in my unit nicknamed me that after I helped a group of Afghan civilians stranded in their flooded village. At the time, I liked being called that.
It fit the stupid idea I had of myself as some kind of hero.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxN1cUemAlr
I was young and really dumb back then. And coming to the rescue is what I thought I was doing later on, when everything went so wrong over there. I was just trying to help. Or so I've told myself a zillion times. But I doubt anyone else would see it that way.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBayWO9pLR9
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfq5c4DO9hi
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?243Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aJtroqIpy
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
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