Epic Sins (Epic Fail #1)(51)

“I’m in here all the time. I just don’t know where anything is. Your aunt makes sure I don’t have to worry about any of that.” He seems embarrassed and drops his head.

I tap the drawer next to me. “Cheese grater’s in here. It’s a flat, rectangular, metal thingy,” I say, just in case he’s never seen one before.

“I know what a cheese grater looks like, Sam. I just didn’t realize I had one.” He brushes past me and opens the drawer. “See.” He points. “It’s right there.” He’s standing next to me and starts his chore. I smirk as I turn on the mixer. His elbow bumps into mine as he’s working, but I don’t move.

“Sorry,” he says, and I look over at him. Now he’s grinning, and I know that I didn’t really hurt his feelings. I bump my elbow into his on purpose and he smiles. He’s feverishly grating the cheese, and soon a large pile is on the plate in front of him.

“Enough?” he asks, and I nod. He brushes up against my side and peeks into bowl. “That doesn’t look like much dough,” he says.

“That’s what the yeast is for,” I reply and dump the packet into the mixture. “Once this is all blended together, the dough will begin to rise. It should take about an hour and then we’ll be able to make our pizza.”

He raises his eyebrow. “Our pizza?”

“I’m not putting all of this effort into something not to get anything out of it,” I say and bump my hip into his. What am I doing?

“Really?” he says and turns to wash his hands in the sink. “I guess that seems fair enough.”

“What do you want on top?” I ask.

“What?” he chokes out.

“Toppings? What do you want on top of your pizza?” Oh my God. My cheeks are burning as I stretch plastic wrap over the bowl.

“Oh.” He pauses. “I’m good with just cheese and sauce.”

“Me too,” I say. My hands are covered in flour, so I join him at the sink. “Can you leave the water on?”

“Sure,” he says, and I place my hands under the warm stream.

“Too hot?” he asks.

“No, it’s just right.”

He squeezes soap into my hands, and I rub them together, building up the lather and scrubbing off the flour that’s caked on. “Thanks,” I say. Our shoulders are touching. He remains next to me as I finish washing up. He turns off the water and places a towel over my wet hands, his strong grip patting and squeezing my hands dry. My knees are weak, and I swear his hands are the only thing keeping me upright at the moment.

“Dry?” he asks hoarsely. I look into his eyes and nod slowly. His hands remain wrapped around mine, but I don’t want to pull them away.

Suddenly Kai cries sharply from the den and I jump. Garrett drops the towel and we both rush in to calm him. Kai’s lying on his back, and his arms and legs are outstretched. His screams grab me in the chest and I lift him up. “It’s okay,” I whisper as his body tenses against mine. I rhythmically pat his back and bounce him in my arms.

“What can I do?” Garrett asks helplessly.

“Can you fix him a bottle?”

“Yes,” he says and takes off into the kitchen. Kai continues to wail and throws his head back violently.

“Hey. Shhh,” I whisper against his temple, kissing him gently. I begin to hum and cradle the back of his head, gently pushing him against my shoulder. Garrett is back within a few minutes and I sit down in the recliner.

“Here.” Garrett hands me the bottle and I shift Kai into a comfortable feeding position. As soon as I put the bottle to his lips, he takes it and begins to eat. But within seconds, he’s screaming and arching his back again. My heart is breaking for him, and Garrett kneels down on the floor beside us. His hand replaces mine on the back of Kai’s head, and he slowly massages his scalp.

Garrett looks like he’s being sliced in two by his son’s cries. His brows are furrowed and he’s stiff and tense. Worried. “Keep doing that,” I urge him. “I think that will help.” Kai’s cries slow to whimpers, and I let him calm some more before I offer the bottle again.

“How can he be so good some days and others like this?” Garrett asks softly. “I just don’t understand.” He looks into my eyes, hoping for answers.

“I don’t know,” I say. “I wish I knew.”

He nods and his hand drops to my knee. “He stopped,” he says.

I place the bottle against Kai’s lips and he begins eating, this time uninterrupted. Garrett exhales and so do I.

Garrett’s pain is tangible. I wish I could make it go away along with Kai’s pain. We’ll get there, eventually. I look down at Kai, who is now eating comfortably.

I remove the bottle and place Kai on my shoulder to burp him, which he quickly does. Garrett’s warm hand remains on my knee as I begin feeding Kai again. Garrett seems to notice his contact with me and slowly pulls his hand away. “Sorry,” he whispers and moves over to the couch. He sits there, helpless. Almost defeated.

“He’s getting better,” I encourage. “Today’s just been a really rough day. His senses seem overly heightened causing everything to bother him.”

Garrett nods slowly and I’m not sure he believes me.