Page 18 of Total Creative Control

“Kitchen?” Aaron asked lightly. “Or do you want to walk and talk?”

“Kitchen.”

It was empty, thank God.

Aaron made a beeline for the kettle and flipped it on. “Tea?”

Lewis shook his head and wandered over to the window, staring out.

Aaron watched him, frowning. Unfortunately for Mason, he was dead wrong about Lewis being jealous, but clearlysomethingwas going on. Even by his own low standards, Lewis had been shockingly rude. Now, his profile was thoughtful, absorbed, as he gazed out across the street, his broad shoulders bunched and tense, fingers curled into fists.

Bristling, Aaron thought.Prickly. For some reason, Lewis always triggered a desire in Aaron to paint him in words.

“Before you say anything, I know,” Lewis muttered, without turning around. “I was fucking rude. I’ll fucking apologise, okay?”

“To whom? Mason? Me? Toni? That’s quite the hat trick you scored in, oh, about two minutes.”

Silence.

Aaron got a mug out of the cupboard and dropped a tea bag into it, occupying his hands with the mindless task. “What happened in the meeting?”

A rise and fall of those broad shoulders as Lewis sighed, scrubbing one hand through his hair, clenching it there for a moment. “Charlie Alexander wants me to ‘sex up’Leechesfor the American remake. He thinks the British version is ‘too dark’.”

Aaron winced. “Ouch.”

“He wants a fucking love triangle.”

Rather disloyally, Aaron’s heart jumped with excitement. BecauseOh my God, yes please!“Oh?” he said mildly. “Between Skye, Amy and...Faolán?”

Please, please, please!

“I won’t do it. I don’t care if we don’t sell it to Telopix.”

“Fansdolove the Skye/Faolán bromance,” Aaron reminded him lightly, reaching into the fridge for the milk. “I mean, a lot of fans ship them. Maybe you could just...amp up their attraction?”Please do that.A canon romance between Skye and Faolán would beamazing, even if it was only in the US remake. “I actually think it would be really popular.”

Lewis turned from the window, the sunlight catching his dark hair, his eyes almost the same cool blue as the sky behind him. “Yeah, but Charlie Alexander wants to make Faolán straight. The love triangle would have Amy, not Skye, at the apex.”

“What?” Aaron fumbled the milk, almost dropping it. “You’re joking.”

“Nope.”

“But that’s bollocks. Sorry, but—Jesus Christ, they can’t do that. That’s outrageous!”

Lewis smiled, a quiet, rueful expression that relaxed his face, softening him. He huffed out a grim laugh. “I knew you’d say that.”

“But—Faolán’sgay. That’s a key element of his character. It’s what makes his relationship with Skye so intense. It’s what fans love about their dynamic.”

Lewis lifted his hands, palms out. “Preaching to the choir. That’s exactly what I told Toni.”

“But surely she doesn’t agree with Charlie?”

He let out a blustery sigh, shoved his hands into his pockets, and perched on the windowsill, watching Aaron.

“No, but she’d say this deal would be good for RPP, and a massive break for me personally. And she’d be right.”

“But…” The idea of remakingLeecheswith Faolán as a straight character hurt in a way Aaron struggled to articulate. It felt personal, like an attack on him, on everything the show meant to him. On his very identity. “They can’t make you do it,” he said, embarrassed by the emotion in his voice. “Can they?”

“No, they can’t,” Lewis said. “Leechesis my show.”