It's the summer break, and for the first time in his life, Mike would rather stay in the bloody classroom.<br><br>It's wedding season, and Mike is doomed to spend all summer sipping cheap champagne and pretending he likes tiny portions of posh food. From the passive-aggressive torment of Mike's mother-in-law to the insulting incredulity of his colleagues over what his mysterious husband actually looks like, Mike would voluntarily teach sex education to fourteen-year-olds for the rest of his life if it would only get him out of one more wedding. Even his husband in a kilt isn't going to save this one.<br><br>But there's nothing like watching someone else get hitched to remind him of where he's come from ... and where he's determined to go from here.

Married Ones

Still, visitor. Appearances to be kept up and all that.


So Mike said, “I’m complaining now, you heavy twassock. You keep lead weights in your legs?”


“You can make it up to me with a brew.”


Stephen gave him the world’s most put-upon sigh. But it worked. Mugs came out of the cupboard, and the good teabags followed them. Jez followed them into the kitchen at the sound and relaxed once he saw thatmost of Stephen’s backside was hidden under the long fall of cotton.


That just made Mike want to bunch it up and be a twat about it, but Jez had brought bacon, so he let the urge slide.


“So are you going to hide out here all week until the wedding or what?”


“Was hoping for advice,” Jez groused.


“Put up with it or get out,” Mike said flatly. “She’ll only be worse when you get her pregnant.”


Stephen rolled his eyes. “Haven’t heard that one before…”


Chapter 21