Loving Him (Him Series Book 1)

Four

2 years later

"Brown or blue eyes?"

I glanced over at Katie, who was eyeing a couple of guys at the bar. "Are you picking out a date or a doll?" I joked.

"You're not funny," Katie said, but she laughed.

"She is kind of funny," Izabelle added, spotting the cowboys Katie was watching, and smiling. "If Lucy isn't interested, I'll split them with you. I like both."

"Their backs are to us and you can't see their eyes." I smiled at the absurdity of the conversation that was typical for the three of us.

"With the way they fill out those jeans, who cares about eyes." Izabelle took a pull of her long neck. "I'd give the guy in the dark jeans a ten. The babe in the faded jeans is off the charts. I call dibs on him."

"How would you feel if a guy was ogling you like that?" I asked, trying to keep it light. I'd learned there was a fine line between lighthearted comments and being a killjoy.

Izabelle peeled the wrapper off of her beer bottle, while she thought about the question. "Better to know he's with me because of my hot bod than to think he actually cares."

Both Katie and I started to speak, but Izabelle cut us off.

"No drama tonight, girls. I just want to have fun, and I definitely don't want to think about Scott."

Katie shot me a questioning look silently asking me, Is she okay?

I wasn't sure, but I understood Izabelle wanted to have fun without having us fuss over her. I shrugged at Katie, and she went back to watching the cowboys.

"What's your opinion, Lucy?"

Izabelle rolled her eyes. "She can't answer that. Ogling guys is a sin."

I didn't take the bait. "Dark Jeans has blue eyes and Faded Jeans has brown. I noticed as they passed us. Eyes are always what I notice first about a guy."

"Seriously?" Izabelle flipped her long, straight, shiny black hair. "I always notice how tall they are, then I do my ABCs—abs, booty, and chest."

Katie laughed.

Izabelle frowned, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. "I feel like I'm a bad influence on you two virgins."

Katie took a long sip of her beer and appeared smug as she flicked her gaze to me. "You don't know everything, Izzy," she said vaguely, trying to get a rise out of Izabelle.

"Why are you looking at Lucy like that?" Izabelle asked as if she knew something was off. "Wait a sec, did you and Brandon..." She made a gesture with her hand.

I choked on my tea. Brandon was a guy I went out with a couple of times last year, but he dropped me after he'd met my cousin Lindsay and now they were planning a wedding. I never even kissed him.

"You told Katie and not me?" Izabelle asked, hurt.

I opened my mouth to tell her I'd never slept with Brandon or anyone else, but Katie spoke first.

"I found out by accident," Katie lied smoothly. "You know how Lucy never likes to talk about herself. If I hadn't come home early that day, I'd never have known."

"You walked in on them?" Izabelle's eyebrows shot up, and her gaze sparkled with fascination.

I wanted to call a time-out, but they were having too much fun.

"Did you actually see them together?" Izabelle waited expectantly.

Katie giggled and leaned over so only I could hear. "You always say she judges you. This will get her off your back."