Blue216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhe8asam2Ix
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsiUuqTGYR
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRLm3yqE4z
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PfcIYQeph
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6rOzIJBtQ
That kind of blew my mind.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4yvjxqaVs
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZL9UjbAbXT
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUS6AlEHbtO
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wXb01kp3R
But all of us ran out of time.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXMT3mJw5R
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvX7Ijxzlw
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRdsvl5zpA
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbtwNCobfP
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepfT2cECAy
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCm4ghvqgsr
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPYGFe4RNs
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rV4HpWNBC
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mkgFUVSgh
"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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14rmPB9Gvn
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCfDerG25d
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzsJZnL23p
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi51k8qRetz
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOENKuroDq
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvI8XardjYV
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGW8MONydjE
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoc52k9BFk
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwDiyVGIsq
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqlO2Fbpsh
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.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc914NIqWMi
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3aYNEcRay
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniHj6CL0lt
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
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