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I removedoffto stay apart tonight?"

"I thought so too," she replied, "until I realized that the only reason you wanted to do that was so you could go see Jade"

Feeling suspicion unfurling in my stomach, I tilted my head to the side, and pursed my lips "How do you know that’s where I went?"

I wouldn’t have put it past her to have someone follow me She was possessive by nature, and her dislike of Jade seeone for almost three hours," replied Stella "And I can smell her perfuhed, and pinchedto face her Her blonde hair was a little untidy, and unke Stella never went anywhere without having her hair done, not even to bed

"I needed to talk to her," I said, agitated that I felt the need to explain my whereabouts "I still care about her"

That was obviously the wrong thing to say because in a flash Stella flew off lared up at me with hateful, narrowed eyes

"It’srong with you after she left Cabo early and then it clicked You’re in love with her"

"How I feel about her has nothing to with us," I said, brushing past her to walk into the bathrooet away from her before she saw the truth written across my face I wouldn’t be able to hide it, in spite of my desperation to do just that

"So she isn’t the reason you’re going to break up with me?"

With a frown, I replied, "No she isn’t, but how’d you -"

"Please," she interrupted, her voice sharp and venos, and I kneas because of her I’m not stupid"

"Look, Stella, you and I both know this hasn’t been working for a while We haven’t even had sex yet, for God’s sake I’ve tried to make it work, but it’s not, and I think it would be so better for us to go back to being friends"

‘Friends’ was a term I used loosely when it came to Stella We only knew each other because she was on the dance tea out a couple of tiht it was because I could like her For the first teeks things were actually pleasant, and easy, and it ed to numb the aftereffects of s started to show through the cracks, like the way Stella would scohen Jade and I had even the most arbitrary conversation

It wasn’t until I hesitated at the thought of sleeping with Stella or touching her in a re And yet, I’d stuck it out

"B-but I love you," she cried, stepping closer until she could wrap her arms around my waist "Please, you can’t leave me Jade doesn’t love you, but I do, and I know you could love me too, if you’d just try" Her words came out in ato do to have led her on, it was over I had toahold of her ar her away "This isn’t fair to either of us I can’t be with you anymore"

Stella’s expression remained blank for all of five seconds before it twisted into soeance It had always amazed me how she could flip so easily, and it had been too easy to ignore it when I’d rather not have been alone Now it only troubled me

"You’re a fool," she spat, her voice shrill and irate "She doesn’t love you, Reid," - I looked away, hating that her words stung – "and you’re too infatuated with her to give ret this"

She turned on her bare feet, and snatched her thick ju on a pair of black boots and stor her way out The front door opened, and slah every space of the apartment