She shook her head as he left the room, and Kyle took his place. No, she loved Alex. She couldn’t live without Alex. And she’d always felt that way.
Kyle thrust the cup of tea toward her, his lips pulled into a thin line. “Well, that was ill-timed, wasn’t it?”
She huffed out a breath as she accepted it, taking a sip before she shook her head. “Why would he do this now?”
“Because you’re vulnerable, and he’s taking advantage of that.” Kyle raised his eyebrows a little. “You want me to rough him up for you?”
Ava chuckled, wrapping her fingers around the warm mug of tea. “No. But thank you.”
She took another sip. “Hey, umm, I hate to ask this again, but don’t say anything to Alex.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes at her. I’m not judging but are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean…now feels like a time to be honest with him.”
Ava clicked her tongue, sliding her eyes closed. The warmth of the tea radiated through her hands as she tried to use it to center herself. “I know. I just…there’s so much going on, and I don’t want him panicking about this. And he will.”
Kyle exhaled a long breath as he pressed back into the pillows. “Ava, keeping this secret isn’t just going to cause you more anxiety—it’s dangerous. You’re walking a tightrope here, and any added stress could tip the balance. I’m notgoing to tell Alex, but you need to think hard about how much you can handle alone.”
She patted his hand. “Thank you, Doc.”
He rubbed her shoulder. “What are you doing to do about it? Because it doesn’t sound like he’s going to let this go.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You heard what I said to him, and he just ignored it.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be alone with him going forward for the time being. He’s just going to continue to pester at you.”
“He’s not right, right?” Ava questioned, craning her neck to glance up at him.
“About the drugs and the implication that any feelings you have toward Alex are only the result of a chemically induced set of emotions?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
Her stomach churned as she waited for his response. What if he confirmed her worst fear? What if everything she’d done in the past few months couldn’t be counted on. Had there been a reason that she and Alex had never been together before now?
Kyle pressed his lips together. “I don’t think what you feel for Alex is the result of the drug. Weren’t you guys close before you fake married him, and then close even after?”
Tears sprang to her eyes as she nodded, her lower lip trembling in a desperate attempt to hold her emotions inside. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Easy, Ava,” Kyle said, pulling her closer. “You need to stop second guessing everything.”
“How can I?” she asked with a sniffle. “I’m filled with some experimental drug, and now with even more drugs to try to counterbalance them.”
“Those drugs don’t change your personality, Ava”
“We don’t know that about the Neuroprisol-X. It’s behavior-changing. It could–”
“It didn’t manufacture the emotions you’ve had since before you came here.” He twisted to face her. “Let me ask you this. Before you came here…didn’t you say you were nervous to tell Alex about Chris?”
Ava stared into her tea, searching it for answers. “Right. I was, yeah.”
“Don’t you think that was because you knew deep down that you didn’t want to be separated from him? If you didn’t care at all about Alex, you wouldn’t have felt that way, right? And that would have been well before you were exposed to Neuroprisol-X.”
Ava heaved a sigh, setting the tea on the side table before she pulled Kyle into a tight embrace. “Thank you.”
He squeezed her tighter. “Any time. And you know you can believe me because I kissed you. And if I thought there was even a small chance you only loved Alex because of the drugs, I would totally be hitting on you. Chris wouldn’t even stand a chance with the full-court press I’d be giving you.”
Ava grinned at him as she pulled back, cupping his cheeks. “You are going to make some very special woman very happy.”
“Uh-huh, well, until then, I’m just going to make sure you stay nice and calm so you don’t have any more blackouts.”
