Blue193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1SzhCEnW3
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnw6ok9zKV
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxicBW53v3
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYZjtaiFJH
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFmP0jBjyj
That kind of blew my mind.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvi3BtQvwU
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6LElgVqCE
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlr6QHsw8NL
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOcBNSzytt
But all of us ran out of time.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tcsnt3tpV
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh74loShaK3
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZY95PMgX6A
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDBVjA94Ey
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7l42RK09Fc
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jIeG0dLlO
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6vcO85Gtt
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGLemYd0z7
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xCEu1Jjit
"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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmdFAwCMan
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqMFV7NYOc
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJpk8gbaKa
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0FyRsBA6j
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiMp4wRSuM
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevfOv4Vitu
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3gYTWawTy
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnOrGsbwKt
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgMJ6BY6sG
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tauDw0O79
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.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Mx6cBc6QC
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRCEbpbrHI
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?193Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvi5MZ0Q3fu
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
ns 15.158.61.19da2
