Page 89 of Men in Shorts

I hope you enjoyed “Auld Lang Syne” and it made you yearn for more of Ben and Evan. They find their Happy Ever After in the novelPlaying in the Dark(Glasgow Lads Book 4).

The next and longest entry in theMen in Shortscollection isPlay Dead(Glasgow Lads Book 3.5), Colin and Lord Andrew’s followup novella. It begins roughly (pun semi-intended) half an hour before “Auld Lang Syne” ends.

Play Dead

A GLASGOW LADS HAPPIER-EVER-AFTER NOVELLA

31 December 2014 – 7 February 2015

About Play Dead: A Glasgow Lads novella (Book 3.5)

Colin’s wounds have finally healed. He’s ready for his big comeback on the football pitch and can’t wait to return to a normal life—especially the rampaging sex he and his boyfriend, Lord Andrew, once indulged in.

But Andrew has his own invisible wounds. Each day the memories of that near-fatal attack tighten their grip on his mind. Yet he must stay strong for the man he loves, the man who almost died to save him.

Colin knows something’s wrong. The more questions he asks, the more Andrew hides behind his aristocratic stiff upper lip. A surprise turn of events may give them the justice they crave, but will it be enough?

When Andrew finally breaks down—in typically spectacular fashion—he must learn to trust like never before. And Colin must learn there’s more than one kind of strength.

Because with a love as mad as theirs, there’s no such thing as normal.

To those who suffer in silence.

Know that you are never alone.

Chapter1

It waspast six a.m. when Colin MacDuff followed his boyfriend, Andrew, up the spiral staircase of the Auld Keep’s watchtower. Technically that made it morning, but in Scotland on the thirty-first of December, the sun couldn’t be arsed to make an appearance until nearly nine. Which meant it was still pure dark and freezing where they were headed.

The rest of the guests at Dunleven Castle, along with Andrew’s family and its staff, were away to bed after the midnight wedding and its extra-long reception. A beautifully brutal snowstorm had left them all stranded at the castle overnight. No one had complained.

“I’m ecstatic to finally bring you up here,” Andrew said, his red plaid kilt swishing with each step. “You’re going to absolutely perish from the view.”

Colin smirked at the hyperbole. Lord Andrew Sunderland, second son of the Marquess of Kirkross, was known to the press as a professional drama queen. Most people thought it an act, but Andrew was equally grandiose in private. He was always and forever himself, and Colin loved him for it.

Not that he could resist having a go at him.

“I’ll ‘perish,’ aye?” Colin asked. “After all your nursing care this year, you’re gonnae bump me off on Hogmanay? Dramatic irony, so it is.”

“Shut it.”

Colin did shut it. Andrew laughed at most of his stupid jokes, but never those about Colin’s brush with death and slow crawl back to life. Colin was ready to put all that behind him now, to start the new year as his old self, both on and off the football pitch.

Andrew reached the top of the stairs. “Ah, lovely. The staff think of everything.”

In the glow of the wall sconces, Colin saw Andrew holding a snow shovel. “Let me do it.”

“I’ve got it.” Andrew pushed at the tower’s exit. The door opened only a few inches, no doubt blocked by the freshly fallen snow. “You shouldn’t strain yourself.”

“It’s what I live for. Stand back.” Colin gave the door a crushing shoulder tackle, the sort he couldn’t wait to deliver on an unsuspecting defender. The door surrendered with a groan.

Andrew brushed past him through the exit. “I do wish you’d be careful.”

“And I wish you’d let me shovel.” Colin followed, trying to grab the tool. “You’re still in formalwear. The best man shouldnae do manual labor. You said yourself, your job was to look pretty and…”

Colin trailed off as he caught sight of the view. The sky had cleared, providing a black velvet backdrop for an obscene amount of stars. But it wasn’t what wasabovethat captured his attention.

Like most medieval castles, Dunleven sat on a hill, the better to see approaching enemies. Until now Colin had never appreciated just how high that hill was. All of Fife stretched before him, from the glittering lights of Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy to the black expanse of Loch Leven.

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