Chapter 43: Am I Your Girl?

Stina knocks the door, progressively louder as she gets no response. She can see Coby through the glass, asleep on his couch, but he doesn't wake. Finally, she tries the knob and finds the door unlocked.

"Wake up, stoney head," She says, laughing as she tickles his bare feet.

"Hey, Ti, what's up?" he asks sleepily as he sits up.

"It's after noon," she points out, "You aren't usually the type to be asleep in the middle of the day."

"We were out late last night," Coby says, "Did Becky let you in?"

Stina frowns at the mention of her rival, "Your door was unlocked. I don't think she's here."

"I just got back from a job interview," Stina tells him as she sits on the couch beside him,"I'm going to be working in the gallery my friend Eleanor manages."

"That's great, Ti," Coby says, "It'll be easier with your friend for a boss."

Stina laughs, "You don't know Eleanor. She'll ride me harder because she's my friend. But I needed to do something. My parents have decided that all my 'outside activities' were bringing down my grades, so they've completely defunded my social life. Ha! I'll show them!"

"So, getting a job is part of your master plan to get back at your parents?" Coby laughs.

Stina chortles, "Totally. And gallery experience will be good for my future career." She sighs deeply, "The whole point of being an artist is not having to work a real job. But it turns out, it's a ton of ass kissing and selling yourself to the highest bidder. And work. It's like there's no way to avoid it. I'm so disillusioned by the whole thing."

"But that's not what I came here to tell you," Stina continues, "Rainier and I broke up."

"I told him if he broke your heart, I'd hurt him..." Coby says.

"Really?" Stina asks, impressed that she had that effect on him, "But, no, it wasn't like that. I'm in love with someone else."

"Already?" Coby asked, "You don't stick with one guy very long before you're after the next one."

"Coby, there's no new guy," Stina says gently, "I'm in love with you."

Coby is quiet for a moment. "What the hell am I supposed to do with that?" he asks.

Stina played this scene out in her head several times before she came here, and this response never happened in any of her imagined scenarios. "Well, I thought we could...you know...get back together...?"

"Just like that, after you dumped me for another guy?" Coby asks, "You messed me up hard, Ti. I can't be your flavor of the month and go through being dumped like that again."

"It won't be like that," she says,  climbing onto his lap, "You were right, we belong together."

Coby rests his head against her shoulder as she runs her fingers through his hair. "I'd give anything to have you back," he says softly, "But I can't lose you again."

"I feel the same," Stina says, and leans her face down to kiss him.

He's never met a girl who could wriggle out of her clothes faster than she does, and it isn't long before she pressing her naked torso against his chest and he's holding her bare, round ass in his hands.

They kiss like that for what seems like the longest time, then she moves her hands toward his pants and starts to wrap her legs around him.

"Okay," Coby says, lifting her off him, "Not like this." She gives him her sad puppy eyes and the pout that always gets him right in the heart. He smiles at her and takes her hand, leading her to his bed.

Stina sighs and moans as he works her clit with his tongue. He was always especially good at this, and she comes with a heaving shudder in just a few seconds.

"What about you?" she asks as he nestles up next to her, holding her against his chest.

"Since we broke up, I've pretty much fucked anyone that would open her legs for me. I've had more sex than I needed. What I miss is just laying on my bed and holding my girl. So, if you're good, that's all I want to do right now."

"Am I your girl?" Stina asks hopefully.

"Always, Ti," he answers, "Always."

"What about Rebecca?" she asks quietly, hating to bring up the subject, but it has to be dealt with sooner or later.

"I'm pretty much her Hayley," Coby tells her.

"What's a Hayley?"

"The girl that lives downstairs. I was fucking her for awhile until she figured out that that's all it was. Then she told me to fuck off. I was using her to try to get over you. And Beck has someone back in San Fran she's trying to forget. She won't tell me about him, but I know. I give her credit for being more honest about it than I was. We both know what we're doing here is just passing the time," Coby explains, while avoiding the question of to kick Rebecca out of his apartment with feeling like an asshole about it.

His phone beeps insistently; Coby grabs it from his night table and reads the text. "Ran into an old friend. Will be late, maybe all night. Don't wait up. R"

Coby puts the phone back on the table. "Looks like she's hooking up," he says, relieved that he won't have to kick Stina out of his bed any time soon.

Stina stretches herself across his lap. "Am I allowed to be jealous that she has you?" she asks.

"Ah, Crissy," he says, using the name her father calls her, because it makes her pout, and because he can get away with it, "You know she doesn't have me. She's just been staying here. And if we're getting back together, I'll get her to move on."

He meant to wait for this, to make a clean break with Rebecca and start anew with Stina after he'd cleared that up. But Stina won't consider her mission accomplished until she's had him inside her, and his resistance crumbles quickly as she pushes him gently back down onto the bed. 

After they make love, they fall asleep in each other's arms. When his phone wakes him, he thinks about ignoring it, but gets himself up to answer it anyway. When the call is finished, he turns to Ti, gently touching her shoulder to wake her up.

She rolls over to face him, smiling until she sees his tears, his mouth twisted in a grimace of pain. "What's wrong?" she asks, reaching out to hold him.

"We have to go. My sister is in the hospital."