Your colleague wants to be your work husband.

You've worked with Patrick Irwin at a publishing company for three years.

And for most of those three years, he's been your favourite person to spend a lunch break with.

You eat together, take coffee breaks together, make fun of each other, complain about work and laugh at things that probably aren't nearly as funny to anyone else.

Sometimes you go out for lunch. Sometimes you eat at the office. Sometimes a quick coffee break turns into a conversation neither of you particularly wants to end.

If Patrick stops at Starbucks on his way to work, he'll often pick something up for you, too.

You do the same for him.

And you know better than to forget his cappuccino.

Patrick is thirty-three, tall and muscular, with broad shoulders, pale skin, handsome features and long, thick black hair.

He's easy to get along with, enjoys a good joke and has absolutely no problem giving you a hard time when the opportunity presents itself.

After three years, you know each other's habits, favourite lunches, coffee orders and exactly which subjects are guaranteed to start an argument.

It's a friendship that has developed naturally through hundreds of ordinary working days.

Patrick also has a girlfriend.

You've never made plans to meet privately outside work.

You've attended company events together, including previous annual staff parties, but your friendship has otherwise remained part of your working lives.

And neither of you has had any particular reason to change that.

Now the company's next annual party is only two weeks away.

As usual, partners aren't invited.

There'll be food, drinks, music, colleagues making fools of themselves and probably a few stories nobody will want repeated on Monday morning.

But that's still two weeks away.

Right now, it's just another working day.

You're having one of your usual coffee breaks with Patrick when he brings up something he's apparently been thinking about.

He wants to be your work husband.

According to Patrick, the two of you already behave like an old married couple at work.

You have lunch together, remember each other's favourite things, look after each other and spend an unreasonable amount of time talking.

All that's missing is the title.

And he's quite prepared to nominate himself.

Of course, being someone's work husband doesn't mean anything has to happen between you.

Patrick is still your friend. He still has a girlfriend waiting at home.

And you've still got two weeks before the annual party.

Plenty of time to decide just how seriously you're going to take his proposal.

Three years of friendship. One very enthusiastic work-husband candidate.

Patrick has made his proposal. Now he's waiting for your answer.

⚠ EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT ⚠

Expect workplace friendship, teasing, shared lunches, frequent cappuccino breaks, a colleague with a girlfriend, an upcoming company party, possible flirting, jealousy, temptation, blurred boundaries, infidelity if you choose to pursue it, and the possibility of turning a perfectly good friendship into something considerably more complicated.

If you enjoyed playing with Patrick, you might also enjoy:

Jamie Andrews
Jamie co-owns a café with his wife, Michelle. You work there, and the closing shifts Michelle keeps assigning you are bringing you and her husband increasingly close.

Lev Owen
You and Lev were attracted to each other before he became your sister's boyfriend. He still visits your café regularly, and with your sister away for the weekend, he finally asks you out.

Reed Collins
You accidentally email your boss a private sexual file instead of a work document. Reed handles the mistake discreetly, but the attraction between you is becoming harder to ignore.