“Man,” Kyle said before he pressed his lips into a thin line, eyeing him, “can I make a really personal comment?”
Alex shrugged, his eyes falling to Ava. “Uhhh, I mean…we’re friends, so I guess.”
“I mean, it’s probably not what you want to hear, and I’d really rather be friends and keep my mouth shut than have you ticked off at me.”
Alex grimaced, fluttering his eyelashes. “It’s that bad?”
“It’s probably not what you want to hear.”
Alex waved at him. “All right, bring it on. I’d rather you hurt my feelings than Ava devastating me when she leaves me.”
Kyle poked a finger at him. “That right there…that needs to stop.”
Alex clamped his mouth shut, his eyes going to the floor.
““Mav, come on, man. You’re the love of her life—it’s obvious. The only thing that’s going to cost you Ava is you.”
Alex shook his head. “That’s not accurate.”
“It is extremely accurate. Nothing she does or says is ever enough to convince you. You’re going to drive her insane with your constant whining about how she’s going to leave you because you’re not enough for her.”
“Whining. Doc?—"
Kyle flicked a hand through the air. “I’m not done. Everything I’ve said is accurate. These guys that you think are going to be so appealing to her would only be appealing because they think they can make her happy. But you have every advantage because youknowyou can make her happy.”
“I don’tknowit. And I’m sorry I sometimes feel like I don’t deserve her.”
“My dude, I say this with the utmost respect, but get a backbone and start deserving her. Because I swear if you two get divorced, I’m going for her, and then we’ll hate each other. And that would be really awful because you’re like the first real friend I’ve ever had.”
“You’d seriously steal Ava if she left me?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“So…then you’d have Ava and I’d be your enemy.”
“Right, which would be…good on one hand, but terrible on the other. I would much rather have you both as my friends.”
Alex offered him a slight smile. “So, my friendship outweighs your interest in Ava. That’s pretty cool.”
“It does mainly because I’m fairly certain Ava would also secretly pine for you.”
Alex lifted his chin. “I mean, I don’t know about that, but it would be nice if she did.”
“She would,” Kyle answered. “Start acting like it.”
Alex bobbed his head, clamping a hand down on Kyle’s shoulder. “You’re a good friend, Doc.”
He hesitated, eying Ava again. “Oh, but next time, could you maybe stab her with the syringe because I still feel super awful about doing that. It’s totally not my thing.”
“She’s not going to blame you for it. You did good, but yeah, that’s cool. I’ll totally be the bad guy next time.”
Kyle flicked his gaze to Ava as a slight moan escaped her. He hurried around the corner of the bed, pressing two fingers to her neck. “I think she’s waking up.”
Alex’s heart rose into his throat as he flicked his gaze up, climbing onto the bed next to Ava and taking her hand in his.
Ava’s head rolled back and forth before her eyelashesfluttered open. Alex held his breath, waiting to see if she would be the real Ava or not.
Her seafoam green eyes focused on him, and the corners of her lips turned up. “Hey, Ace.”
