Blue211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtxxXdbHwN
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmX8o7ZWFZR
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbhow6jU1P
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSXetyzEM3
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuIH1LXq3p
That kind of blew my mind.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZ6xE94YxC
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuXA76H4Hc
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulMrY45MPE
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImgZZKlR7L
But all of us ran out of time.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqeLgn2Ac0
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdVZMDcoN5
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1H6ajKy3c
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbDDQt0Qkc
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Ca7uyHiJo
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHEf9FsGyo
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwJa0AFwgf
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFTBXhACLb
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVykYigBxn
"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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDymI1AFxe
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdA5QA3lbhL
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxC95PIN2P
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp70E1MzFWD
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvMDHXRVrZ
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZRJwFKpfB
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvlSwQR5jR
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskIcV5Mj6Z
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5ijU80ufg
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0bODPpXgU
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.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wr0LlqXkd
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoy7YCSQQza
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vhXFmf0Pn
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
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