Page 50 of Royal Crush

“My editing team has brought some concerns to my attention—particularly ones regarding the intimate scenes,” Christoph said.

Aleric made a choking noise again, then cleared his throat. “I’ve actually been working really hard on how to portray that accurately.”

“I’m not doubting your skills,” Christoph said, every word sounding like a slimy lie. “The issue is what we can hide in jeans and trousers can’t be hidden when Prince Camillo gets naked.”

I knew they weren’t talking aboutmeme, but it was still odd to hear. I stayed silent, and I could feel Aleric’s tension rising beside me.

“For example, even on a crash diet, there’s no way for you to lose weight specifically in your legs, and your abs are far more defined than the prince’s.”

I wanted to defend myself because fuck him. I could easily bench his body weight. But he also wasn’t wrong. Aleric could hunch over in a chair and keep his legs loose and still, but when he was naked, his body was entirely unlike mine.

“We have a few options for…authenticity. The first would be CGI. You’d wear green socks and wraps, and we’d be able to adjust the body in post,” Christoph said.

“Or?” I couldn’t help but ask. That felt weird and wrong.

Christoph met my eyes, his gaze steady. “Or we use a body double for the lower-limb shots.”

“A disabled body,” I said. That…could work, I supposed, though it also felt strange. They could hire a disabled actor so long as he was nameless and faceless?

Between us, Aleric’s fingers brushed my elbow, and something in me immediately relaxed. God, I’d had no idea how much I needed that touch.

“To be specific, your body,” Christoph said.

It took a full five seconds before I realized he was talking to me, not Aleric. Because of course it was me. I was the only paralyzed man in the room. My tongue felt stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I tried to make noise, but nothing would come out.

They wantedmeto stand in?Meto play myself making love tohim. To Raul—who was also Hugo. And Hugo would see it, and he would somehow know. He’d see a mole or a scar and…fuck.Fuck. He’d immediately know it was me in the shot.

Panic squeezed the back of my neck.

“That feels highly inappropriate,” Aleric said. “You’re asking the prince of Caverna to be a stand-in for a sex scene? You must know how absurd that is.” He was controlling his voice, but I heard a faint tremor in his words.

He was angry, and I knew why. And I wanted to kiss him for it.

“We can, of course, hire someone else if that’s what you’d prefer. But it would have been wrong of us not to ask.”

Aleric was so tense beside me it felt like being pressed against a brick wall. “Why do we need to do this shit at all? Why do you feel like it’s necessary to show all that? This isn’t full frontal.”

“No, but?—”

“I think with some well-positioned close-ups and a thin enough blanket, we can accomplish the same thing that jeans can. Trust me, I can get a little soft in the belly before we shoot those scenes, and considering I’ve been working very closely with Camillo to do his character justice, I’m fully capable ofportraying it accurately. He doesnotneed to get naked for anyone here.”

Oh. And now I understood the other reason he was angry. He was worried about them taking advantage of me.

“Aleric,” I murmured softly. “It’s alright.”

His head whipped around, and his gaze met mine. “Is it?”

It was an honest question and easy to answer. “Yes. I’m not going to do it, and I don’t think we need CGI. I think your suggestion is perfectly fine.”

“If it was up to you, Your Highness,” Christoph said, “we would, of course, sign off on it. But I’m afraid it’s not.”

Aleric leveled a gaze at him. “Figure out a better way.”

“I think?—”

“No. Figure out a better way,” Aleric repeated. He slapped his hands on his thighs and pushed himself to stand. For a brief second no longer than my inhale, I envied his ability to just stand up and leave. Instead of walking off, he stepped around my chair, undid the brake, then pushed it closer to me.

“Coffee?”

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