Blue220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtMomPi7l5
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mEpLaHlq3
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ936dP5llm8
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTol00jP03
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4z2vAvfpw
That kind of blew my mind.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWFT6yFuXZ
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YgZI11dQU
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33nWgBy1bi
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0bZoIT6R6
But all of us ran out of time.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGiXYnGOrw
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gadUJeN82
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVSOB98bhk
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhqs6zpVxe
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3v17DwKkX
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQs85lcGvrq
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurfHDQf8au
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52sRqKKszg
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNszprC5n5
"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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVveHdeJaO
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHa5rbQrEC
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1hkB2UMY2
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mpnsNoyyV
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtTSYfYshx
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGstgysvfj
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblQti9NaC3
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GDV37COiD
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6iIxeEH0o
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxCSXOgr9z
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmPbaBcVkZ
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVwJKESfGh
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFB78IamhNn
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
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