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What was that? Did she feel it, too? She’s not looking my way—she’s busy with the dish—and I wonder if it was all in my head. I mean, it’s not like she thinks about me in any special way. She pretty much has a boyfriend now…
I squeeze my eyes shut. Why the heck am I thinking about thisnow? It’s not the time to be jealous.
Jealous? Am I jealous? Why should I be jealous of him?
“Liam?” Chloe breaks me from my thoughts.
I shake my head. “Yeah, sorry. I need to…” I bend over her to reach for something and our lips are inches from each other.
I can’t help but glance at hers. She glances at mine, too. But then she pushes away and focuses on her dish.
What am I doing? She’s into someone else. I’m at a competition that could change my life. So why am I feeling all these weird things? It’snotthe place or the time.
“Liam!” my cheer team chants. “Liam! Liam! Liam!”
I smile and wave at them. Others are chanting the rest of the contestants’ names, but they’re not as loud as my crew. It pumps me up with so much adrenaline, I want to destroy this challenge.
Like other cooking competitions, the judges visit the contestants to chat about their dish. They seem interested in what I’m going to present to them, and that makes me even more excited than I was. Maybe Chloe and I could win this round and have that advantage?
The audience counts down the last ten seconds while we put the finishing touches to our dish. My hands shake, but I manage to get everything on the plate and Chloe helps make it look pretty. After all, people eat with their eyes first before their stomachs.
“Hands in the air!” Viraj instructs.
All our hands shoot in the air to show we’re not cheating by quickly adding something to our dishes.
The judges walk down the line of stations, tasting everyone’s dish. I glance at my parents and find them both smiling encouragingly at me.
When the judges reach our station, Chloe and I straighten up. I explain the dish to them, watch as they taste it, and answer the questions they ask.
“Hmm, very interesting,” one of the judges murmurs. The others nod and then they move on to the next contestant.
Chloe and I look at one another. I have no idea what that means. This is the first time professional chefs have tasted my food.
After they’ve sampled everyone’s dish, they announce the top three they enjoyed the most.
“Sienna, Frances, and Liam.”
The audience erupts in cheers, my family and Chloe’s and all our friends the loudest.
“Liam! Top three!” Chloe flings her arms around me.
I hug her back, lifting her a few inches off the floor.
The judges go to deliberate for a bit, then return to announce the winner. “Sienna!”
Darn.
Chloe takes my hand. “It’s okay. We don’t need an advantage to own their butts.”
I nod, smiling. The important thing is that they liked our dish.
“Now for the elimination challenge,” Viraj announces. “We’d like you to put yourself on a dish. Let us get to know you.”
Chloe and I prepared for this, but I’m still freaking out. They give us a few minutes to plan the dish, then we run to the pantry to grab everything we need. We’ve decided on a dish that encompasses my interests—basketball,Swords and Legends, and books. It’s going to be one epic dish. I hope.
Chloe and I work very hard, once again knocking and crashing into one another. I know I shouldn’t be focusing on the feelings sparking through my body, but I can’t help it. It’s like ever since we slept together in that bed, something has shifted inside me. Something that clearly has not had the same effect on Chloe.
“Time is up!” Viraj announces. “Hands in the air.”
