Blue165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvf3pkZRxG
I went to bed early; I desperately need a decent night's sleep.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQSuEEHSyH
Half an hour later, though, I'm still staring up at the stained ceiling, sweating, and cursing Hunter's stepfather.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEfovX5nXd
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtH0gCaaamq
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbPjBqQyH2
That kind of blew my mind.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEAJ2VyHSq
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzELSbMcn0s
Plus, it was the last communication I'll ever have from my old man, his peace offering.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeDK5ekLmt
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9ffKzC1hf
But all of us ran out of time.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGoI1U9R8X
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OyhATwcDW
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIC2w6hPI8
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTYU7AYpiX
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7Xtbemt2f
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkI5Qe05ap
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagpWbLN6Pu
Jesus. I don't know exactly what it is about this girl. But damn, she gets to me.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNNB5nunVq
I take a deep breath, staring up at her. It looks like she's writing something.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4851c6Etl
"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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7SuKoBnTT
There's a long, kind of painful pause. Keegan closes the notebook she was writing in.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mhbtkUxzW
"Hey," she finally responds, sounding less than thrilled at my interruption.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTPBmY2Q5Y
"Feel like some company?" I hadn't planned to say that. It just popped out.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGJzdhZBFy
And again, there's another long pause. Ouch.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOmyI7Pfuw
"Sure," she says after what feels like a hell of a long time. Again, she doesn't sound too enthusiastic.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZPXiZ9sMBh
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3ZdYcPeBn
I turn toward the tree and jump up into the lowest branches, the guitar still on my back.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82sIxW07y2
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSDDyGWJ6z
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbEgOhB5ox
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.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRly95KndMY
I keep climbing, trying to get away from the memories. Like that's ever going to happen.165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9trr2ie9xt
"What are you doing?" Keegan asks, surprised. Is it just my imagination she sounds a little excited, too?165Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsaYf3mOh4
I grin up at her as I reach for another branch. "I'm coming to see you."
ns 15.158.61.8da2
