Will & Patrick Wake Up Married by Leta Blake Page A

plan to live here for a long time to come. Could you be a little more circumspect? A little less of an asshole?”
    “Could you be a little less ungrateful?” Patrick snaps.
    “Excuse me?”
    “You heard me. I could end this charade in a heartbeat. I’m going along with it so far out of kindness. Something about the idea of being responsible for removing funding for kids with cancer chills the depths of even my black soul, but I’m not a fount of endless patience.” Patrick bites into another doughnut hole, punctuating the next sentence. “So, darling husband, maybe you could show a little gratitude for the fact that I have any patience with you or our predicament in the meantime. Understood?”
    Will swallows. He’s been kind to Patrick, hasn’t he? Let him know how much he appreciates what Patrick’s doing for him? He tries to remember, but he’s not sure. Maybe not. He can’t remember if he’s ever said… “Thank you.”
    “Whatever. Just get our divorce so I can get back to my life.”
    Will holds back a retort that they’ve already established that Patrick doesn’t have a life to get back. Instead he asks, “Are you going with me or not?”
    “To see Granny? Hell, no. You deal with it. It’s your mess.”
    Will narrows his eyes. It’s their mess. It’s not like he married Patrick all by his lonesome. “What about the Molinaros? Won’t it look strange if I’m going around town without you? Shouldn’t I be, I don’t know, introducing you proudly? Especially to my family?”
    “First? This is not The Godfather . Well, maybe part three, but definitely not part one or two. Second? You want me to pretend to be in love with you in front of your grandmother? You didn’t seem pleased with my performance a minute ago.”
    The idea of Patrick saying something like he’d said to Perry around Eleanora makes Will’s stomach churn. Turning to his meal and pushing the eggs around, he says, “Fine, you stay here.”
    “If a Molinaro jumps out of a bush and asks where I am, tell them you wore me out with all the hot sex we’ve been having.”
    Will almost flips him the bird. “Okay. Just remember, be discreet. We can’t have suspicious behavior getting back to the Molinaros.”
    “Got it, Starshine. No problem.” Patrick gets up, leaving his towel behind, and wanders naked back to the table, investigating the chocolate sauce and strawberries. His cock dangles thick and enticing right in front of Will’s face.
    Will leaps up and grabs his coat. “I’ll be back before long, okay? Don’t go anywhere without me.”
    Patrick waves him away, thrusting a strawberry into the chocolate and then licking it off in a way that makes Will groan.
    Will’s shaking all over as he firmly shuts the door on Patrick’s tempting body.
 

     
    Healing isn’t a big town. It’s twenty blocks built around an old church and an even older saloon from pioneer days. These are Healing’s only historical monuments, and Will passes them as he walks to the Good Works office to get his car from the lot. His nose tingles in the crisp November morning air, and he tries to imagine how Healing will look from Patrick’s perspective.
    Everything else in the town proper is mostly modern. A few of the very oldest neighborhoods, all within a hop, skip, and a jump of Old Healing—small square of local shops and restaurants—sport houses from the turn of the century. But for the most part everything built prior to the nineteen forties has been demolished and replaced.
    It’s a shame, really.
    The size of the town has been an issue with the expansion of the hospital. There isn’t a lot of entertainment for the families of doctors, nurses, or patients. It’s a problem Good Works is tackling soon: how to revitalize Healing without overstepping. Here on the edge of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, the ‘rez’, there are only so many ways to expand the town itself, so building things like golf courses or malls is out of the