#GBBO

“No! Noooo!! Why are you doing that?! Oh, mes dieux, you sot!”

Theo followed the racket to the living room and stared from behind the couch as Seb threw up his hands in disgust and muttered more French at the television. On the screen, someone was pouring a white powder into a KitchenAid stand mixer as upbeat music played. The camera cut to another angle, and a woman who resembled Rachel Maddow shouted, “One hour left, bakers!”

“Did anyone teach him anything?” Seb asked, leaning forward to grab the remote from the coffee table. He hit pause and started to get up, noticing Theo halfway through. “Oh! Sorry, was I being loud? I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine,” Theo said. “I needed to get up soon. What on earth are you watching? You sound like a football fan on Super Bowl Sunday.”

“The Great British Bake-Off. This guy is making a genoise sponge all wrong.”

Theo started to laugh. “I don’t even know what a genoise sponge is.”

“A kind of cake,” said Seb. “People think they’re tricky, but if you just understand how to work with eggs, it’s simple.”

“Right. Well, he probably didn’t grow up with chickens and a mother that was a chef at a famous French restaurant?”

Seb gave a huff that suggested this was no excuse and went into the kitchen.

Theo circled the couch to flop onto the opposite end, next to Jagger. “Hey, if you like cooking shows so much, why don’t you watch more of them?” he asked.

“I don’t like them that much in general,” Seb said, hunting for something in the pantry. “They have close-ups of raw meat every five minutes, and the American ones are full of people with personality defects. The Great British Bake-Off is the exact opposite of that. Everyone is so normal and lovely to each other. I hate when one of them has to leave.”

He came back, and he was carrying a box of snack cakes Theo had buried on a shelf weeks ago, hoping Quint wouldn’t notice, and then forgotten himself. Seb held it up. “Do you mind if I have some of these?”

“Help yourself.”

“Thanks.” He dropped it on the coffee table, went into his room, and returned with his test kit. Sitting down again, he gave a heavy sigh before he hit play on the remote. “The only downside to this show how much it makes me crave carbs.”