Page 41 of The Baking Games
“I got a couple right. How many did you get? Um, I believe it was zero,” I say, leaning in front of her face and forming my fingers into a zero like a toddler. Why is she so pretty? It’s annoying on so many levels.
“Maple bacon waffles. That sounds pretty good right now.”
We’re still standing here like two morons.
“Since I’m right-handed and my right hand is currently chained to you, I will need help.”
She smiles slightly. “I can do that.”
We finally start walking toward the door.
“How are we going to sleep?” I suddenly blurt out.
“Well, I personally like to lie down and close my eyes,” Savannah starts to say, laughing. I stop at the door, which jerks her back toward me a bit, causing her to fall backward. Again, I catch her.
“You know what I mean. We can’t sleep… together.” My heart speeds up a bit, and everything that happens to young men starts to happen. Launch sequence activated. I can’t stand this woman. This shouldn’t be happening. I need bolt cutters. My mind is racing. Cameras are all around, and the audience will get the wrong idea all over again.
“Relax, Rhett. We have twin beds. We’ll just pull them close enough for our arms not to break off. Lainey can move to another room. I’m sure she’ll gladly join Connor in your room anyway.”
She seems unbothered. How can she be unfazed by all of this? Oh, that’s right. She’s Sunny. She bounces right back from stuff, even her loss last night.
We start walking again and walk inside the house to the communal kitchen. Thankfully, there aren't that many people there. They've made their food and either moved to their rooms or into the dining room.
Everybody chatters away, and only a few of them make fun of us as we finally get into the kitchen. This is not ideal, to say the least. We've already tripped over each other twice just since leaving the courtyard. I cannot imagine how we will face the reward challenge together, but for now, I'm starving. We just need to make these maple bacon waffles.
"This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever done,” Savannah says.
I smirk. "Just think of it as a bonding experience."
"More like a punishment,” she mutters under her breath.
"Can you just stand still for even a minute?" I ask her. She’s the most fidgety person I’ve ever met.
“Do you really want to make the woman you’re chained to mad right now?” she says, raising an eyebrow.
"This is going to be a long seventy-two hours,” I mutter under my breath.
We get over to the kitchen counter, and I start trying to figure out exactly how I will gather all the ingredients with my right hand tied to Savannah. I'm definitely going to need her help. We're going to have to work on our communication skills.
"Okay, let's get this over with. So I take it you've never made maple bacon waffles?" I ask her.
She looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "I can't say that I have. Usually, I just make frozen waffles.”
I roll my eyes. "You're a pastry chef, Sunny. You're supposed to make waffles from scratch."
"I make pancakes from scratch," she says as if that makes up for the fact that she’s been eating frozen waffles all these years.
“It's basically the same kind of thing. I’m going to need your help getting everything because, obviously, I can't use my hand,” I say, holding it up as if she doesn't remember that we are shackled together like two prisoners.
"First, we need flour, eggs, milk, maple syrup, bacon…”
She holds her hand up. "Can you slow down a little bit? We're going to have to really communicate to navigate this."
“Fine,” I say with a sigh, repeating the ingredients more slowly.
The whole time, we hear the chain clinking between us. It's very distracting.
"We need to cook this bacon until it's crispy,” I instruct, handing her the package of bacon. Only she can't open it without my help. I help her open the package of bacon, and then she starts laying the strips in the frying pan. “Now remember, don't burn that bacon,” I repeat.