Page 160 of Come Apart

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"I know you still love her, but you'll move on."

"What is wrong with you?"

She reaches for my hands. "Alyssa isn't like you. She'll never understand your world. She'll be happier with someone like Ryan."

Anger surges through me. I was going to do this gently, calmly, but all that flies out the window. "Fuck you."

She blinks at me, clearly in shock.

"What? I..."

"You can say what you want about me, but you don't know Alyssa." I shake my head. "You know what? It doesn't matter. I'm not going to be around to hear you speak of anything again."

The color drains from her face.

"Luke, I... You can't."

"I can't? You just asked me to cheat on my girlfriend."

Her eyes narrow. "You did the same thing to her."

"That's different."

"How?"

"Alyssa and I were strangers. You and are I friends. Hell, I come running every time you need me. Would you really throw that all away just to get in my pants?"

"I've never asked you to ‘come running.’ Never."

"You beg me not to leave."

"I'm sorry," she says. "But I love you. It's your fault, you know. You keep showing up when I need you."

"I don't feel like that about you. I don't feel anything for you anymore."

Now she just looks confused.

"Then why do you... what are you so..."

"What else was I supposed to do?" I ask. "You drop hints that you'll fucking kill yourself if I don't stay."

She stares back at me. She looks like she's about to cry, but she'd never cry in public.

She shakes her head. "You can't do this. You're my best friend. I'm sorry I said stupid things, but I do love you. I've been stupid all this time. I never should have been with Edward. He was nothing compared to you."

"You were in love with him."

"No." She bites her lip, her eyes quivering. "I loved you. Always."

She doesn't believe a word she's saying.

"Love is something you do. And you don't manipulate people you love. You don't spend two years carrying on an affair behind their back."

"I was mixed up. But I always loved you."

"Stop. It doesn’t matter if you ever loved me or if you still love me. I'm done."

"Because of Alyssa?"

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