A warm hand stroked Sarah’s cheek. Her eyelids fluttered open, taking in the dimly lit room. “Morning. I’ll be downstairs getting everything ready to go,” Bent said softly. Sarah sat up slowly. Bent stood beside the bed, fully clothed in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants. It seemed to be his go-to outfit for the majority of his informal occasions. She saw his hair was slightly damp from a shower. “Oh, okay,” Sarah said, rubbing her face. Her hands immediately flew to her head. She was almost positive her hair was bunched up in a horrific tangle.Oh my gawd!!! Sarah thought in alarm. She should have remembered to braid her hair so he wouldn’t have to see her like this!Luckily the room was probably too dark for him to notice the blush on her cheeks. She didn’t want to think about how early it was. Especially for a Saturday. When her eyes adjusted, she saw Bent’s face looked tense. Almost annoyed. She cringed inwardly. Maybe she looked a whole lot worse than she feared she did? “Erna left clothes for you over there.” He pointed to the golden colored couch where he’d almost spent the night. How easily he forgot how accommodating she was!She saw her clothes were a white T-shirt and navy sweatpants. “I’m wearing more of your clothes again?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.Bent glowered. “Yeah. So?” Wow. He was grouchy in the morning. “You, um, don’t think everyone will think that’s weird?” she asked, treading as carefully as possible. “No one will know,” he growled. He pressed a button for an intercom that was on the wall beside the bed. It seemed buttons were EVERYWHERE in his house. “Hello, Cooking Robot. Please prepare the breakfast items outlined in your Morning Database. I need them ready in a half an hour. Serving size ten.” He clicked off the intercom.”How much time do I have until we leave?” Sarah asked, climbing clumsily out of his bed. She felt self-conscious under his cold stare. Bent started walking towards the golden couch. “I just told Cooking Robot half an hour. That applies to you, too.” Only a half an hour? She usually needed at least an hour minimum to get ready. She tried to ignore his moodiness. He clearly wasn’t a morning person, although he did look wide awake. At first she thought Bent was going to pick up the pillow and blanket he’d left on the couch. Instead, he lifted one end of the couch and dragged it sideways. A panel in the floor beside the couch slid open. Whoa! Another secret passageway. Not even acknowledging how wild it was for him to take alternate forms of existence from his bedroom, Bent gave a low whistle. Immediately, the four huskies bounded off the bed, instantly awake. They dashed over to Bent and followed him down the staircase to the tunnel below. Sarah, immensely curious, hurried over to peer down the staircase after them. But before she reached it, the panel slid closed with a loud click. “Goodness gracious,” she mumbled. She headed into his glorious marble and gold bathroom. Lost in thought, she wondered if she’d just dreamed that he’d watched over her only hours ago and kissed her on the shoulder. Could the Bent from last night really be the SAME grouchy Bent from this morning? She wished he’d woken her up earlier. She would have enjoyed a long, luxurious bubble bath in his pearl tub. But, given she only had a short amount of time, she resorted to taking a shower. As she stepped into the huge shower room — it was indeed a room more so than an actual shower — she noticed it was still wet from Bent’s earlier rinse. She smiled evilly. She couldn’t help feeling a little bit naughty that she was about to stand completely in the nude in his shower. It was sort of exciting being bad. Though she wasn’t bad by any real standards, this was definitely a step she hadn’t ever taken with a boy before. The shower was heavenly to say the least. It was a combination of a steam room and shower, although the shower felt more like a tropical rainforest waterfall. The water pressure was that good. When she finally emerged, relaxed and steamed, she felt as if she could float around the room. She quickly brushed her teeth and then, wrapping the towel around her chest, found the built-in hair dryer on the side of the bathroom wall. There was also an incredible assortment of hair straightening, styling, and makeup products. Most of which were bright pink. She figured Erna had brought these up for her.Flipping her head down, she started up the blow dryer. Unlike her own, this hair dryer seemed to absorb the water from her hair instead of simply evaporating it. In less than a minute, her long thick hair was dry! As she straightened, placing the hair dryer back on the wall, she realized her towel had slipped off. She bent to pick it back up.As she did, she heard a loud knock. Before she could react, the bathroom door suddenly opened! Sarah screamed in surprise, locking eyes with Bent. He froze, staring wide-eyed at her body, his face in shock.”WHY AREN’T YOU DRESSED?” he yelled. As if it was all her fault.Clamping a hand over his eyes, Bent whirled around…and SLAMMED right into the bathroom wall! He fell down backwards, landing hard on his side. Sarah grabbed her towel and wrapped it feverishly around herself. She braced for him to explode in anger. That wall had to hurt. But to her amazement, he started to laugh his head off.