Page 124 of Raven

Sonny lies on his front, his arms cushioning his head as he snores softly.

Oh, maaaaan…

My head throbs, but so does my heart at the sight. When did he find me? More so, why is he sleeping here?

I force myself to get on my feet and look down. Blood crusts my ribs. The empty bottle is a dead giveaway, but nothing this kid hasn’t seen, considering his flip flops with Spiderman are sitting right next to it.

I put on my shirt, sit down on my haunches next to him, and gently shake him awake. “Kiddo, hey, wake up.”

I shiver, looking around, then check my phone. There are missed calls from Callie and Kai.

Fuck.

They were probably looking for Sonny. Of course, Maddy wouldn’t call me.

“Kiddo,” I say louder and tickle Sonny’s feet.

He makes a weird sound like a moan and sits up in a second like a ninja.

“Hi,” he murmurs, rubbing his sleepy eyes with his fists.

“What are you doing here?” I ask like an idiot.

“Wanted to talk to you. Didn’t find you. Came here. But couldn’t wake you up.”

Great.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to fight the headache and yet more guilt added to my huge list because, yeah, I fucked up again.

“You shouldn’t be sleeping out here,” I say, trying to look as cross as possible, though my heart tightens at the sight of this little dude in his bright-blue cotton shorts and a T-Shirt with the Lion King. His hair looks like a tumbleweed.

Yet he doesn’t seem upset. Instead, he scrunches up his nose at me. “Sleeping on the ground sucks, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah,” he echoes. “I know. Bu’ you get used to it.” He shrugs.

And fuck, does it hit me in the gut.

I take a deep breath, fighting the shame that clogs my throat and burns my eyes. I rise to my feet and stretch my hand to him. “Let’s go. We both need a shower and some food.”

He cheers up right away.

“Sorry,” I say barely audible.

“’S all right.”

I dig for a cigarette and light one, trying to keep myself busy, then notice Sonny studying me from under his eyebrows.

“What?” I ask.

There is hesitation when he asks softly, “You miss her, don’t you?”

I do.

I’m dreading today and what is about to happen because after that, Maddy will hate me even more.

47

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