Blue213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45D9voVOZy
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZT1lTc240
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMTRC7QjQP
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu10oK2Lr4f
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1CQm06MqG
That kind of blew my mind.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ARLJgUc54
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZMO3MTsUl
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWdP1EEe2W
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRDzdgULrN
But all of us ran out of time.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZmtCIIBYQ
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMQ6j67bfv
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXXPB4pnct
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPC96LwzDBV
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCjcSsCVn9
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFbyCbIkfL
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQY8JvKUsW
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdq9UwFSaj
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXm9p35GEC
"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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKRwCQVmv8
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcu5KgOQqi
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hdBloC6CX
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdkG2eU3L5
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ucs0aJ7hq
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjc1RKwXSw9
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUu0l5ALMQ
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbRDkwc4Gt
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGc8fB4OZou
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIfNMESoxf
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURC1qOvAdJ
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXNFjRkKVc
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIki9EpbyDW
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
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