Blue166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKuhwVgAXY
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLY6MraicmQ
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WRKDfciMk
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTXP34ULZk
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXQvdHEaGX
That kind of blew my mind.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaT3B3eqBLt
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfKK7mOpNy
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWLpt7KKnZ
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6ssHnvalM
But all of us ran out of time.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHS9Fos0bLC
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RSP0B2I3m
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZaafT3lPc
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOm4n824pqL
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBOivxOWP7
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtaRysA1va
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJutFyUBl5x
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiA1etO524
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXessjmcXT
"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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5tOX42p2o
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAoqcJ7a25
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSPaRckIen
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWLwnzAU80
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWN36wPBh54
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5COol1ein
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjvoHWkxZP
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0896fHtyI
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4Zyz8XnP6
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTJhNYyLRR
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.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8i1OvqPX5
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimr0QHtccK
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrpvozQnEi
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
ns 15.158.61.8da2
