Loving Him (Him Series Book 1)

Nine

I sat down on Katie's bed and watched her apply a taupe eye shadow while I tried to pull the details of her life from her silent lips.

"Your life is way more interesting," she said, blending the shadow. "I want to hear about the love square."

"Ok, that's disturbing." I shook my head, trying not to bust out laughing. That would only encourage her. "It's called a love triangle, and it doesn't apply to my life."

"Quirky not disturbing and there are four people—Izabelle, Ava, Kyle, and you. You can't have a triangle with four people."

I gave up trying to explain why love square was all kinds of wrong. "Ava and Izabelle both think Ava should be with Kyle."

Katie set aside her makeup, tilted her head, and gave me a look. "Does Kyle get a say in all this?"

The absurdity of the question struck me as funny. "Of course not. He has to do exactly what his sister and ex-girlfriend want."

Katie applied lipstick to her smiling lips. "At first I wasn't sure about you and Kyle because I didn't want you to get hurt, but after hearing everything, I have to say I'm Team Kyle."

"I could make you a t-shirt."

"Forget it girl, Izabelle is scary when she's on a mission. And her brother and Ava are her latest mission."

"I know. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Lucy, when we were in school you always let kids cut in front of you in the lunch line. Since the mystery meat wasn't that great it didn't matter much. Kyle is way better than the school lunch special," Katie said meaningfully.

"I'm sure he'd be thrilled to hear that."

"Don't let anyone cut in front of you, not Ava, or even Izabelle."

"I've asked God what I should do." I tried to sound casual.

It was still difficult for me to talk about Jesus with my friends, mostly because it was still new to me and I had more questions than answers. I was afraid I'd sound self-righteous or judgmental.

Katie's gaze narrowed. "What does the man upstairs say?"

"I'm still learning to hear his voice."

"Let me know when you figure it out," Katie said with a faraway look in her eyes. "It would be nice to have God on my side."

I left it at that. We finished getting dressed and left to meet Izabelle at Shooters, a local country bar.

Would God approve of me hanging out here? Part of me said no, but another part told me to relax and have fun.

Lighten up. You only live once.

I was young and I wanted to hang out with my friends. I didn't drink or pick up guys. I didn't dress provocatively. Everything was good, but a small voice warned me to be careful.

To make it worse I was skipping Bible Study because Izabelle wanted to meet tonight. She worked a lot and we hadn't been seeing each other too often.

God would understand that I told myself, but I wasn't sure. I pushed the feelings aside and decided not to think about it tonight. I'd work out the hard stuff tomorrow.

Izabelle already had a pitcher of beer and a table when we got there. A couple of good-looking guys had joined her. Spotting us, she waved and we headed over to the table.

Izabelle hopped off her chair, her boots hitting the floor with a thud. She hugged Katie and I before turning to the guys.

"Girls, meet Brian and Clayton." She flashed a brilliant smile. "These are my besties, Katie and Lucy."