Mike got to skip the family dinner. Turned out it was blood—or bloody—family only. So Stephen skulked off at six, alone and in his best suit, and Mike satisfied himself with the hotel room telly, frantic texts from his mam about her own upcoming wedding, and—when the evening programming began—finding a decent porn channel and having a quick wank.
He woke up in the dark some time later, when a warm body slid into bed next to him. Didn’t matter. He hugged it close, and drifted off again.
So the next thing Mike was really aware of was the alarm on Stephen’s phone ringing, and—judging by the sounds in the bathroom—the man himself having a shave.
“Traitor!” Mike sounded, who was a beard fan.
“It looked scruffy!”
“It’s supposed to look bloody scruffy!”
He hadn’t done too much damage, thoug
