Page 48 of The Baking Games

“An hour? Seriously?”

“What’s wrong with that? There’s nothing else to do here anyway.”

“Oh, Sunny, life is passing you by. You could be exercising or playing a game of pool or practicing a skill…”

“No thanks,” she sings back at me. “Are you just gonna stand there while I sleep like some kind of creeper?”

I sigh, knowing I’m not going to win this fight. I sit on the bed and swing my sock feet around before lying down and staring at the ceiling, our arms dangling between the twin beds. This is like some weird summer camp for convicts.

I look over at her, and her eyes are closed, her long red hair trailing behind her head on the pillow. “So, this is it? You just lie here and fall asleep? Just like that?”

She turns and looks at me, obviously amused. “That’s how naps work, Rhett. And here’s the crazy thing—I do it all over again when it gets dark!” She gasps and puts her hand over her mouth to mock me.

“I don’t think I’ve taken a nap since I was a toddler,” I say, looking back at the ceiling and wondering why no one has painted over the stains on the ceiling where rain leaked through at some point. I notice these sorts of things.

“I love to nap. My favorite is on a rainy day when it’s gloomy and gray outside. I love to hear the raindrops hitting the roof. I live on the top floor of my apartment building, and I wish it were a metal roof. I dream of having a metal roof one day.”

“So it can sound like you’re being shot in a war zone every time it rains?”

She pokes out her ample lips. “Are you always this much fun?”

“Always,” I say, winking. Why did I just wink? I never wink.

“I’m closing my eyes now, Rhett,” she says. Within moments, I can tell she’s actually asleep. People really do this? They just decide to sleep? In the middle of the day? How magical to be able to lie down, close your eyes, and drift off like the world isn’t this crazy place you need to think about all the time.

I roll onto my right shoulder and watch her like a lunatic. I can’t help it. She looks so peaceful. I would think she was dead if her cheeks weren’t so rosy. Is that makeup? I don’t think it’s makeup. She doesn’t seem to wear anything but a light shade of lip gloss. Savannah is what one would call a girl next door. She’s pretty without knowing it.

What is going on with me? Why am I romanticizing this woman who isn’t anything like the women I date? Who honestly can’t stand me? Who annoyed me by her mere existence during school?

She sighs in her sleep, and I want to scoop her up like a lost kitten.

Oh no. This isn’t good. Is that why I suggested we pretend to be in love? Do I have some completely wrong feelings stirring around inside my cold heart for this woman?

Certainly not. Impossible.

SAVANNAH

It’s startling to open your eyes from a nap and see someone staring at you, but here I am. Rhett is lying on his side, his piercing blue eyes staring back at mine.

“Hello,” he says dryly. “I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up. I considered checking your pulse.”

“Whatever,” I mumble, really wanting to continue my nap a bit longer. “How long was I asleep?”

He looks at his watch. “Five weeks. Everyone has gone home, and we both lost.”

“Very funny.”

“We need to go downstairs. We have kitchen duty, remember?”

I totally forgot it was our turn to do the dishes after lunch. There was probably a sink full of dirty dishes waiting for us. “Right.”

We make our way to our feet and maneuver down the curved staircase. This whole show has been one uncomfortable thing after another. Cameras are watching me 24/7. Ex-boyfriend right down the hall. Rival literally attached to me by a chain.

I must be insane to continue this competition.

“Do you want to wash or dry?” Rhett asks.

“Isn’t there a dishwasher?”

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