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The thing about Stu was, he stayed.
Carl couldn’t make sense of it. Stu was just as light and bright and flighty as every other man he’d ever been hopelessly attracted to, and they all followed exactly the same pattern. Either they turned him down flat, or they came to bed with him once and decided once was more than enough.
All the same, he hadn’t meant to say out loud, the fifth time they spent the night together, “I can’t figure out why you’re still here.”
“What, was I supposed to have cleared out by now?” Stu asked waspishly. “Alright for a one night stand, not good enough for anything serious, is that it?”
Carl shook his head miserably. “Not at all. But I know I’m hard work. Not exciting, in bed or out of it. I’ve heard it often enough. I can’t think why you’ve decided to stick around.”
Stu’s face had softened. “Well, you are pretty cute. Besides, you clearly need somebody to look after you, and nobody else is lining up for the job.” He slipped his hand into Carl’s. “I think you'll be stuck with me till the end. You’d best get used to it.”