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

Mike knocked over the pyramid in his enthusiasm, and Stephen laughed.


“Alright, pisshead. Come on. Let’s go and get some food into you.”


“Food,” Stephen repeated loudly. “Then home, I think. Don’t fancy looking after you being sick all night.”


“You’re not drunk. You need to drink.”


“When you were trying to break up the fight,” Stephen said.


Stephen had lost the second coin toss, though not by much. Jez had been late. And it had been reasonably obvious why, by the smell of Carlsberg and the fact that his best man had been replaced by an usher due to a raging hangover. Vows had been said through gritted teeth, and Jo had turned her head last minute so the first kiss between man and wife had landed on her cheek instead. Even the minister had looked uncomfortable, and the mingling between the groom’s and bride’s guests had been minimal at best.


Chapter 26