StoriesByTroy - Newsletter #11

Hi my loves,

Okay... I think we need to talk about the last few chapters.

Because wow.

The past couple of days have been heavy, haven't they?

The characters across our stories have been making some questionable decisions, and unfortunately, a few of those decisions have come back to bite them. Our main characters are going through some things right now, and I have to admit, I didn't actually expect all of my currently running stories to become this angsty at the same time.

Somehow, all of the couples have ended up going through a rough patch simultaneously.

I promise I didn't plan it that way.

It just happened.

And honestly, I think that's one of the things I enjoy most about writing. Sometimes the story takes you somewhere you weren't expecting to go. The fun moments mean more when the characters actually have something to lose, and the relationships become much more interesting when everything isn't perfect all the time.

So, if you've been frustrated with some of the choices lately, stick with me.

I promise there is a reason behind the madness.

As I mentioned in the previous newsletter, The Men In My Barracks and Playing Boyfriends: Season 2 are both taking a short break.

For these two stories, I think the break is actually necessary.

You've reached points where the characters have made some pretty major choices, and I want you to have a little time to sit with them. Think about what they've done, why they've done it, whether they were right or wrong, and most importantly, what those choices could mean for their relationships going forward.

Sometimes I think the anticipation between episodes can be just as fun as reading the episode itself.

So yes, I'm leaving you there for a little while.

Playing Boyfriends: Season 2 returns on 27 September with Episode 15.

The Men In My Barracks returns on 29 September with Episode 34.

Don't worry, though. This break does not mean I'm taking a break from posting.

You'll still be getting stories and other posts while these two are away. There's plenty coming up, which you'll see in the schedule below. And when these stories return, I'll give you guys a quick recap so everyone knows exactly where we left off.

Although I'm pretty sure some of you won't need it.

You've been watching these men like your lives depend on it.

Now...

Let's do a much-needed story analysis, because gosh, we need it.

I know. I know.

All of us are deep in this story now, and a lot of you have been hurting right along with Ryder and Callum. They felt like the IT couple of the barracks at the start. Two boys in the same corner. Easy jokes. Easy hands. That stupid husband and wifey talk that made the whole camp feel smaller and safer. And then look at them.After weeks of hiding, after all those nights Callum kept walking out of the bunk and telling himself he had a reason, he finally got caught. Not by rumor. Not by Alistair. By the man he loves. Ryder Callahan, sitting on the edge of the field at dawn, watching him come out of a door he was never supposed to come out of.That is a brutal place to leave two people.Callum went to Sergeant Ashford that night to dull the pain of walking in on Ryder and Julian. He thought he had seen something real. He thought the one person who had been careful with him had already started looking somewhere else. So he ran toward the thing that shuts his head up. It did not work. He still walked out of that building and found Ryder waiting. No version of the night left hidden.Here is the part I want you to sit with, because you know something Callum still does not.What Ryder did with Julian was an act. A stupid one. A hurt one. It was never about Julian. It was Ryder’s messy way of forcing the lying to stop when he could not bring himself to say the words out loud. He thought if Callum saw him with someone else, the truth would finally have to come out, or the half version of them would finally end. It backfired. Callum broke. Ryder watched him break and felt it immediately. And now both of them are standing in the wreckage of a plan that was never supposed to become the thing it became.So I want to ask you the questions I have been asking myself while writing this stretch.What do you think of Callum right now?

Does he still deserve Ryder after everything he hid?

Was Ryder right to pull Julian into it, even if the intention was not cruel?

Does Callum deserve forgiveness, or does he need to sit in the consequence first?Two men are face to face now. One of them has been lying to protect a feeling he does not know how to name. One of them has been hurting in silence and then made a choice that hurt them both. Neither of them looks clean. That is the point. I didn’t want a perfect victim and a perfect villain. I wanted two people who love each other and keep missing the honest version of that love by an inch.The story returns on 28 September.Until then, tell me where you stand. I am reading every comment.

Our couple in Playing Boyfriends is going through something that may look familiar if you’ve been reading The Men In My Barracks. In both stories, trust gets tested inside a shared space, and a third person from the past makes the present feel suddenly unsafe. The difference matters. Adrian didn’t cheat. He didn’t go back to Nicolás. He hid the fact that the man standing in Matteo’s kitchen was his ex, then let a whole day happen around that silence. That is not the same crime. It is still a real one, because the damage was not about cheating. It was about Matteo being soft in his own home while the truth sat down the hall.That is why Sunday night lands so hard. Matteo is not only looking at an ex-boyfriend on his couch. He is looking at a closed door in a life he had just started to believe was solid. Adrian froze. He told himself he was protecting Matteo. He used the easiest version of the day instead of the honest one. By the time Matteo finds them at two in the morning, the secret is no longer small. It has already lived through breakfast, through the apartment, through the kind of closeness that only works if both people are in the same story.So the questions worth sitting with are not “who is the villain.” They are quieter than that.

Why does this hit Matteo as deeply as it does?Is it only Adrian’s silence, or is something older in Matteo waking up?Did Adrian deserve the distance that followed, or was one hidden day made to carry more weight than it should? And if the relationship is still standing, what does repair actually look like when the mistake was not betrayal, but fear?The story returns 26 September.

Both stories are currently sitting in that uncomfortable space where the characters have hurt each other and there isn't going to be an instant fix.

And I actually like that.

I don't want characters to have one emotional conversation and suddenly everything is perfect again. Real relationships are messy. Sometimes an apology isn't enough. Sometimes forgiveness takes time. Sometimes people need to understand why they did what they did before they can even begin repairing the damage.

So that's what I'm exploring with both stories right now.

What happens after the argument?

What happens when the anger settles?

Can the characters actually rebuild the trust they've damaged, or have some things changed permanently?

You'll have to wait and see.

Since both Playing Boyfriends and The Men In My Barracks are taking their little break, you're not going to be left without something to read.

You'll be getting two new chapters of Rival Rugby Captains, which I know a lot of you’ve been enjoying, along with a brand-new one-part story called The Body Double.

So there will still be plenty happening around here while our two emotionally complicated couples take some time away.

And speaking of what's coming next...

A brand-new Personal Trainer story is coming next month.

The Firefighter Roommate will be the next exclusive story for my Personal Trainers, and I'm already having a lot of fun working on it.

I'll have more details, character information, and the trailer for you guys soon.

For now, that's all I'm saying.

You're going to have to wait a little.

Here’s what’s coming up over the next couple of weeks:

• 22nd Sept – The Private Island Flip (PT) – Part 8 • 23rd Sept – Rival Rugby Captains – Part 5 • 24th Sept – Rival Rugby Captains – Part 6• 25th Sept – The Body Double – One-Part Story• 27th Sept – Playing Boyfriends: Season 2 – Episode 15• 28th Sept – The Private Island Flip (PT) – Part 9• 29th Sept – The Men In My Barracks – Episode 34• 30th Sept – Taking a break from posting• 1st Oct – Playing Boyfriends: Season 2 – Episode 16• 2nd Oct – The Firefighter Roommate (PT) – Intro• 3rd Oct – The Men In My Barracks – Episode 35• 4th Oct – Taking a break from posting• 5th Oct – Playing Boyfriends: Season 2 – Episode 17• 7th Oct – The Firefighter Roommate (PT) – Part 1• 8th Oct – The Men In My Barracks – Episode 36

That's everything for this one.

I know the current chapters have been a little heavier than usual, but I hope you're enjoying the mess just as much as I am. Sometimes the best parts of a story aren't when everything is going right. They're what happens when everything goes wrong and the characters have to figure out what they actually want.

So stick with me.

There is plenty more coming.

Love,Troy