Page 110 of Total Creative Control

Too late. Everyone had turned to stare, the room filling with surprised gasps and excited whispers. Not that Lewis was really listening; he only had eyes for Aaron, who was staring at him over the heads of the crowd.

Their gazes locked, Aaron rising slowly to his feet in utter bewilderment.

“This is such an honour,” said the woman on stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the creator ofLeeches—Mr. Lewis Hunter!”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Aaron

Lewis paled, eyes widening with horror as the audience stared at him, waiting for him to say something. Aaron half expected him to turn on his heel and stalk out the door, but instead, he pressed his lips together in a determined expression and walked forward, down the narrow aisle between the two sets of chairs to the temporary stage where Aaron and the other panellists sat.

Aaron watched his approach with concern. When Lewis had left his place, a few hours earlier, he’d still been in a bit of a state, but he seemed calmer now, as though he’d pieced himself back together. Now, he looked composed and handsome in butter-soft jeans and a fitted sweater that hugged his broad shoulders and showed off his lean torso. And the audience was noticing too, one woman mimicking fanning herself to her companion while others took pictures with their phones.

Luckily, Lewis seemed oblivious to all the attention. In fact, he seemed oblivious to pretty much everything and everyone apart from Aaron. His gaze was laser-focused on Aaron, making Aaron’s skin prickle and his heart thump in wary anticipation—of what, he didn’t know, but he braced himself when Lewis stepped up onto the stage and headed straight for him.

“I’m sorry,” Lewis murmured when he reached him, leaning in close. “I didn’t mean to crash your panel.”

He smelled really good.

Aaron beat back the urge to bury his face in Lewis’s neck and justinhale. Instead, he murmured, “It’s fine—honestly, everyone’s going to be stoked you’re here.” He paused, then added, “But whyareyou here?”

Lewis opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Michelle, who was determined to take control of the situation. She was a Big Name Fan among the Skylán Community, and the panel had been her idea. Prior to Lewis’s arrival, she’d been hogging the stage unashamedly. Now that Lewis had turned up, there was no way she’d be handing the mic over.

“Mr. Hunter,” she gushed, hurrying towards him. “This is such a huge honour! Let me just say that I’m delighted to welcome you on behalf of the MTWCon committee. Everyone here today is a hugeLeechesfan.” By now, she was standing next to him, and she shoved the microphone under his nose.

Lewis cleared his throat. “Um—thanks. I didn’t plan to come up on stage or anything, I just came to”—he jerked his thumb at Aaron—“see, um, JägerMeister here.”

A ripple of laughter went through the audience, and Michelle said, “Really? I thought—that is, I’dread—that you don’t like fanfic?”

Aaron winced at the question, along with half the audience. Oblivious to her own gaucheness, Michelle thrust the microphone back in Lewis’s direction, right under his nose. It was exactly the sort of personal-space-infringing move that Lewis detested, and Aaron waited for him to push the mic away irritably, or perhaps to make a sarcastic comment. But amazingly, he did neither.

Instead, he glanced at Aaron for a moment before saying, “Let’s just say I’ve only recently discovered its merits.”

The audience cheered spontaneously, a few people whooping and whistling. Aaron stared in astonishment, and Lewis gave him an uncertain smile and a little shrug.

Since when had Lewis been reading fanfic? Andwhose? Only last night he’d been arguing—

And then Aaron remembered.

“That’s your pseudonym?”

Shit. Had Lewis been readinghiswork? The thought sent sudden heat rushing into his face, and now Lewis’s uncertain expression was morphing into one of amusement as he noticed Aaron’s reaction.

Someone in the audience jumped up. “Do you readJägerMeister’sfics?” she asked, echoing Aaron’s thoughts. “Isn’t he amazing? He's totally my favourite—he’s why I’m here today!” Her gaze shifted from Lewis to Aaron, and she clasped her hands over her heart and said in a rush, “I love your work!”

She sat down again, and everyone stared at Lewis expectantly, waiting for his response. When he said nothing, Michelle prodded the mic in his direction. He looked down at it briefly, then up again at the audience and said, “I have read some of JägerMeister’s work, and”—he nodded at the girl in the audience who had just spoken—“yeah, it’s fucking amazing.”

More whooping.

Aaron realised he had a huge lump in his throat. He tried to swallow against it discreetly and felt his eyes sting. He could hardly believe what he’d heard. Lewis had read his work. And he’dlikedit. He’d thought it was “fucking amazing”.

Aaron didn’t bother wondering whether Lewis meant it—Lewis wouldn’t say something like that if he didn’t. He could never bring himself to tell the easy, complimentary lies that oiled the wheels of the entertainment industry. Painfully honest, that was Lewis.

Which made his praise now all the more precious.

Overwhelmed, it took Aaron a long few moments to focus on anything beyond keeping his emotions in check, but eventually, he noticed that this weird situation was turning into a Q&A. There were at least ten people in the audience with their hands up, waiting to ask Lewis something, and Michelle was loving her moment of glory.

“Chap in the green t-shirt,” she said briskly, pointing at someone in the third row. “What’s your question?”