AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mallory sighed and sat back in her chair. “Maybe I’ll text Sebastian pretending to be you and tell him you’re craving sushi.”
“He knows I would never text him to ask for food. That’s ridiculous.” I tore off a big bite of my sandwich and bared my teeth at her. “Eat your dry, sad sandwich and be happy.”
“Sorry. I’m still stuck on the part where my kids think my food is too fancy.” Ryder used his sandwich to point at Roman. “You used to love that pasta I cooked for you. You asked for it every day for three straight years.”
“I want pizza. Or nachos. Nico’s dad makes him nachos and they’re so good.” Roman looked at me and I could see his eyes narrow just slightly as he prepared to test me for not the first time that day. “Can you make nachos?”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Can I make nachos? Are you kidding? Of course, I can make nachos.”
“What about pizza?”
“Why would I make a pizza when I can get one delivered faster?” I laughed at Ryder’s horrified groan. “What? I’m an art teacher, not a pizza maker. I bet your dad could make a delicious pizza, though.”
Ryder’s hand found mine under the table and he squeezed. “I won a competition when I was twenty by making a pizza.”
“Why don’t you make them now, Dad?” Racey guzzled down a bottle of juice and wiped his mouth on the back of his arm.
“I don’t know. Maybe I should.” He looked at Roman. “If I start making pizza again would you want to help? One day your own kid might look at you and think you’re uncool because you can’t make a pizza. Now’s the time to learn.”
My heart warmed at the look Roman gave his father. It was almost shy as he nodded. He quickly looked away and then punched his brother.
“Hey!” Racey hit him back and turned to Ryder. “Did you see that?”
Roman’s jaw was already set in a stubborn way and it was so obvious that he’d given his father an inch and had immediately felt so vulnerable that he had to take back two inches. “Whatever.”
Ryder opened his mouth and I could tell by the furrow between his brows that he was going to scold Roman. I didn’t want to overstep but I didn’t want that look Roman gave Ryder to vanish.
I cleared my throat and stood up. “Hey, Roman? I could use some help getting dessert ready. If you promise not to punch the cake, you can help me.”
Race frowned. “He’s definitely going to punch the cake.”
“No, I’m not!” Pushing away from the table, Roman stomped towards me. “I’m not going to punch the stupid cake.”
I nodded at Ryder before following Roman into the kitchen. With just the two of us alone in the kitchen, I watched as his anger disappeared and he just stood still with tears in his eyes. I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation exactly, but I wanted to try to help.
“I don’t actually think you’re going to punch the cake. I know you’re not crazy and only a crazy person would punch a cake instead of eating it.” I busied myself with getting out plates and spoons. “I just thought maybe you could use a break. I could tell that you weren’t actually angry when you punched Racey. I’m guessing you were just overwhelmed for a minute and sometimes hitting things feels easier than talking.”
He crossed his arms and shrugged.
“Do you want to know the best part of helping in the kitchen?” I handed him a spoon. “You get to sneak bites before everyone else.”
He frowned up at me as I scooped a bit of icing off the cake and ate it. “Why are you being nice?”
I leaned against the counter and shrugged. “I’m just offering to share sneaky cake bites with a kid who looks like he needs sneaky cake bites.”
Finally, he dragged his spoon through the icing and stuck it in his mouth. “I didn’t mean to hit him.”
I kept my eyes on the cake. “You want to know a secret?”
“Yes.”
“I think of emotions like those Venus flytraps. You know the plants that eat bugs?” I finally chanced a look at him and laughed at the confused share he was sending my way. “I know it sounds silly, but listen. The flytraps open up and when something tickles them, they close. Emotions are like flytraps because when we open up our emotions and something touches them, it’s natural for us to shut them down. Only our emotions aren’t trying to catch dinner. They’re just trying to protect themselves. It can be scary to feel things sometimes.”
“You think I hit Race because I’m scared?” He looked at me like he thought I was an idiot.
“I think you hit Race because something touched your emotions and you wanted a distraction while you snapped that flytrap closed.” I ate another spoonful of icing and smiled. “Maybe you should apologize to Race. No matter the reason you hit him, he was just minding his own business.”
He groaned. “I hate that everything has to be a big deal.”
