Picking fights to see if someone will stay isn’t love. It’s an obstacle course.

Testing someone is usually fear doing the asking. The logic underneath is that if they can be pushed and still stay, the staying must be real, so the push gets repeated and raised. The trouble is that the test never returns a final answer, and the person you are testing is spending their patience on the course instead of on you.

If you recognize the setup, try saying the actual thing once. Something as plain as being afraid they will get bored of you. It is a worse feeling in the moment and a much shorter road than the obstacle course.