Page 156 of Stuck With You
I inhale and exhale slowly, needing this to move along..
One present is handed out, then another, slow as freaking molasses.
“What the hell is this?” Wind holds up a blue plastic dinosaur with a hole cut out of its back.
“Dat’s a b-b-bronto-saurus,” Ollie says, taking it from him and setting it on the floor to play with.
“It’s a taco holder. Duh,” Trig says.
“Who only eats one taco?” Carson asks.
“Shut up. Wind should,” Trig says, and they all laugh, but I watch Sarah continue to ignore me.
“It’s my turn,” Krissy waves her hand and then pulls a pair of reindeer slippers out of a bag. Her mouth falls open. “These are amazing!” She slips them on and looks at the tag. “Thank you,” she tells Carson softly, and he nods at her.
The rest of the gifts are handed out until there’s one left, and Ollie brings it to me. “Dat’s from Mama and me. I wicked the s-spatula,” he says, smiling.
Sarah’s eyes meet mine for the first time today.
Inside is a plastic container filled with perfectly round chocolate chip cookies. She raises an eyebrow with a slight smirk of pride, and I’d give anything to be able to kiss it right off her mouth.
“Hey, why didn’t I get those?” Carson says. “I want a redo.”
“There’s no complaining.” Krissy points at him.
“Those bath salts will make your skin feel like butter.” Wind rubs a hand up and down his arm.
Luke lights up the Lightsaber I found at the grocery store and pretends to strike Ollie. He falls to the floor in exaggerated agony, with Carson dropping like a fly beside him. Millie steps over them to hand the box of chocolates to Krissy, who takes her sweet ass time selecting one.
“Mama, I gots to pee.” Ollie hops up, holding himself.
“Ok. Let’s go.” Sarah leaves Frankie with Krissy and scoots him down the hall to the bathroom.
Seeing it as my opportunity, I stand, taking my homemade cookies to the kitchen. I set them on the counter and stalk after her.
The bathroom door opens, and Ollie flies past me back to the living room, but I block Sarah from escaping. I slip an arm around her waist and haul her directly to my room.
“Oh, hi. Hello. Ok.”
I keep hold of her, closing the door.
She ignores me, surveying my room. “So, you’re a make-the-bed kind of guy. I wondered—”
“What’s going on?” It comes out as more of a bark than I intend.
Her eyes flick around the room. “What do you mean?”
My shoulders sag. “This. Why won’t you look at me? You’ve spent the last hour ensuring you didn’t have to talk to me.”
Her spine stiffens. “I’m not—”
“Sarah.” I might lose my fucking mind if she doesn’t tell me what’s happening inside her beautiful head.
She exhales, her gaze finally landing on mine. “I’m sorry about. . .last night.”
My heart sinks to my gut, where it smacks it around for having hope. “Sorry about what part?”
There are some long moments of uncomfortable silence while she evaluates what exactly she’s sorry about, and I use the opportunity to second-guess every single thing.
