“I’m just saying,” I continued, wanting to do my best to sincerely drive home that I didn’t need him to stick by me. As much as I enjoyed being near him and felt drawn to him like a magnet, I didn’t want to accept his company as some sort of elitist act of charity, if that happened to be the case. “I know all three of you have been friends for a long time, and I’m not really interested in being anyone’s pet project.”
