WOW, anger fades much faster than pain. Do you think he would be more hurt than angry if he thought you were ignoring him or you didn’t care? There is a fine line between giving a kid space and not caring or ignoring. Sometimes for a child that line gets blurred.
Lets face it he needs you. He doesn’t want to, and he for sure doesn’t know he does nor does he want to admit it. But if you stop reaching out, even if he shows anger, which by the way he probably doesn’t even mean, he might think you stopped caring. Would you rather take the bite, or would you rather him feel you stopped caring to feed him?