Page 168 of Come Apart
"He looked worse than I'd expect."
"Excuse you?"
She smirks. "He's obsessive about going to the gym."
"I go to the gym," I retort. "I'm very fit."
"I've experienced your level of fitness firsthand. Your stamina is very impressive. And your cardiovascular conditioning... I have no doubt you could outlast him."
"Continue."
She shakes her head. "In your dreams."
"Maybe I need to take you to the bedroom and remind you."
If her eyes roll any harder, they'll pop out of her head. "I remember just fine. But he lifts. You don't."
"I do tabata."
"Of course you do. What the hell is tabata?"
"Tactical body weight exercises."
"I'm pretty sure you made that up." She doesn't sound impressed as she rearranges the bag of blueberries and takes a long look at me. "Sit still."
She takes a wet paper towel and wipes my forehead. Her touch is still soft and gentle.
I look into her eyes. "Samantha bought me out of my half of the mortgage today."
"Oh." She frowns.
"And after... we had a talk. I told her that we can't be friends anymore."
She stills.
"Why is that?"
"Really?"
She nods. "Really. Why did you end your friendship? She's your friend, isn't she?"
"She was."
She slides the paper towel over my cheek. "So you must have had a reason."
"Isn't that what you wanted?"
She nods. "But what did you want?"
"Ally... the only thing I want is you."
She gives me a long look.
"Last time we were here, having this conversation, you phrased things a little differently."
"I know." I look up at her. She's still a beam of light. She's still everything I ever wanted. "I didn't think she'd be okay without me."
"What changed your mind?"
