Blue230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9K8VuOloY
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbTaR2MZir
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmno3qyEd3
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5AJdJn2xO
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzk76eO5r52
That kind of blew my mind.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqKGSkJLSV
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxj9VZJb4u
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDp0hkwwk8
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ588XY6PD5L
But all of us ran out of time.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWdMDrdheX
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3ePXSTeTI
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaOTI5oLGj
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9g9RAbjp4
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76OJdkwkYL
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVKGdckCBs
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUfzrXwlwv
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71vQ8THJuf
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgElhmAOarL
"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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZyVypo5Fw
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvu5aslsazs
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2T1X1fZvML
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCk1YKnQx7
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7VedclDhc
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MArJKCec6
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0vspcg6Ec
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsYTsQxMqA
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16OgfClH3l
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYfxtqIuDp
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.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdumgQ4IMQ7
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoa4X3AGkP3
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6gQwCJUcM
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
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