Emma unpaused the TV and settled back, threading her arm through his and resting her hand on his bicep.
Sometimes he wanted to just ask her: Did she not consider their friendship odd? Their increased cuddling lately odd? But he didn’t ask, because he liked the feel of her tucked in next to him, whether intentional or not.
“The couple leaving us today is ….”The host took a couple of cleansing breaths and shuffled the papers in his hand.
George gripped her knee. “Cue the dramatic music and lighting. Dun, dun, DUN!”
“Oh, stop.” Emma laughed, ruining her attempt at irritation. More over-the-top pauses ensued while Emma shushed him for making fun of it.
“Tenisha and Leif, you’ve been eliminated.”
“No!” Emma wailed.
“Why are you upset? Donny and Denise are safe.”
“But I liked Tenisha and Leif’s fighting. So much sexual tension going on there, and now we’ll never know.”
“Are we even watching the same show?”
Emma’s lips gave a cute little pout. “She’s the sassy city girl, he’s the hick with the mad cooking skills. You know their parents would hate each other. They had a whole racial Romeo and Juliet thing going on. It was fascinating.”
George rubbed his eyes. “Stalk them on social media then.”
“I will, but they needed more time together. Now they have a long distance problem.”
On the show, everyone was hugging and saying their goodbyes. It wasn’t fair to eliminate them since they had actual cooking talent. They just happened to have an undercooked dish on the last challenge. Why was he analyzing this? Dang Emma had sucked him into this, too.
“Who are you rooting for, George?”
“Since I hate all of them, I’m always happy when anyone leaves.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you here?”
There were so many possible answers to that question, none of which he wanted to share with her. He used to leave after Mr. Woodhouse went to bed, but the past few months he’d been staying and hanging out much later than that. “I like the actual cooking part, you know, when they’re not sneaking off to make out.”
“Yeah, that part’s a little icky when they know cameramen are like two feet from them.”
“No different than actors. It’s all acting. None of the romance on here is real, you know.”
“You don’t know that,” Emma said quietly. She took a big handful of popcorn and ignored him, focusing on the show.
She wanted it to be real. It wasn’t fair to steal that for the sake of teasing her. The last thing he wanted was to suck the enjoyment out of it. Annoy her to death, yes, but never make her truly unhappy.
He knew Emma was dying to return to work, but she’d chosen to spend the last few days with Mr. Woodhouse and search for caregivers. She deserved a little downtime to think about something else, however frivolous.
The five remaining couples prepared sushi while the large clock on the wall counted down their remaining time. Donny and Denise did seem to have a certain synergy in the way they moved around each other, calmly divvying up responsibilities. Neither of them had much cooking experience, but they definitely tried the hardest.
“I guess I’ll root for Donny and Denise, too.”
Emma turned and stared at him, probably gauging whether or not he was making fun of her. He must have passed some kind of test because she scooted closer and leaned against him again.
“You’re a good egg, George.”
Definitely a friend kind of statement, and not a romantic one, which was for the best anyway.
There was a soft knock at the door, and Emma paused the show.
“You expecting someone?” he asked.
