Page 53 of The Baking Games

I stare up at him. "You're very talented. We don't have to play games to get further. We don't have to pretend something that's not real."

"This isn't just about talent, Savannah. This is about popularity."

"What do you mean?"

"The audience at home is voting on these main challenges. We can already see that the judges are not a huge fan of yours."

"Gee, thanks."

"You haven't won any of the challenges yet. This is a chance for you to get further."

"Well, maybe I don't want to get further unless it's on my own merit."

"Savannah, you’ve got to get in the real world with me."

"Excuse me?"

"Again, this is a mixture of talent and popularity. And maybe I'm a little bit worried about myself."

"How so?"

"I'm not exactly the most likable guy. On my own, I'm not going to make it far in this competition. I'm going to say something snarky, and the audience will vote me off."

"Oh, so you want to use me to your own benefit?

"In a word? Yes. And I want you to use me."

My face heats up. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Not what you think. Get your mind out of the gutter. What I mean is that with your personality and my talent..."

"And my talent," I interrupt.

"Of course, you have great talent. I thought that was a given."

"Well, it wasn't."

"Okay. Anyway, with your personality and both of our talents, I think we can get to the end. But alone, I'm not so sure."

"So you're saying that people will keep voting me through even if I don't win the challenges just because they want to continue watching our supposed romance?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And they'll keep me here despite my terrible personality because they like you and want to see this romance."

"Why would they want to see this?" I'm completely baffled by all of this.

"Because there's nothing better than a romance trope where the woman is sunshine, and the man is dark clouds, and she changes him."

"I think that's a very stereotypical way of looking at romance readers."

"Well, I'm sure if you looked at the sales of those kinds of books, you would see what I mean."

"Either way, Rhett, I don't think we need to do this. Deceive the audience? It just doesn't seem right."

He laughs. "And this is why you're all sunshine. You see everything as the glass half full."

"And you don't?"

"I don't even see the glass."