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."

Everyone said hi and we talked a few minutes before Brian and Clayton asked us if we'd like something to drink. Katie and I declined, having listened to my dad's lecture at least a thousand times about letting anyone give us drinks.

Katie drank some of Izabelle's pitcher. Would God care if I had one drink? In Biblical times wine was the most served beverage, but still, I sipped iced tea.

"They're hot, right?" she said with a wicked smile. "Brian is mine, but you two can fight over Clayton or I guess Katie can have him because I heard you're already taken." Izabelle wagged her brows suggestively.

"What?"

"Dr. Hot Kiss says the two of you have a date."

I'd forgotten about that. Oh, no. No, no, no. "Sure," was all I could say.

"Ava's joining us tonight?" Katie asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, she's bummed because things aren't rolling with Kyle like she'd hoped."

"That's too bad," Katie replied with false sympathy. I nudged her beneath the table and she glared at me. "Maybe that ship has sailed."

"No way," Izabelle insisted. "Kyle is crazy about Ava. He's been in love with her since he was five years old. I've told you guys the story."

I nodded, grimly. "I remember."

Izabelle turned to me. "I'm worried that Kyle is depressed. He's afraid he might not walk again without a limp, and he doesn't want to burden Ava." She shook her head and looked me in the eye. "Have you noticed he's been down lately?"

Kyle seemed the complete opposite of depressed, but then I had no idea he was worried about his leg not healing properly. "He seems fine. His leg is healing well. There's no reason to think he won't make a full recovery, and he shouldn't worry about that now."

"That's what I told him," Izabelle said nodding. "I wish he and Ava would work things out. I mean it'll happen eventually, but she doesn't want to push."

"Has she told him she wants him back?" Katie asked bluntly.

"No. She feels guilty for going out with Cade even though she and Kyle were broken up at the time."

"So Kyle said he wants Ava back?"

Izabelle frowned. "No, but I know he still loves her."

Brian and Clayton returned and the conversation turned directions, but not before Katie leveled a look my way that clearly conveyed her doubt.

I trusted Kyle. But I felt terrible to keep us a secret from Izabelle. It wasn't really lying, I reasoned. I just wasn't telling everything.

Ava showed up a little later, turning the heads of several guys as she made her way toward us. Wearing a red spaghetti-strapped dress with chunky sandals and her straight platinum blonde hair tumbling down her slender back, she was stunning and men noticed. A few stopped and spoke to her, probably asking for a dance or maybe her number.

She'd probably go home with one of them tonight. The thought came from nowhere, and I immediately felt terrible. I was jealous.

"Hi, everyone!" Ava chirped, looking even more gorgeous when she smiled.

We all greeted Ava. Clayton's jaw dropped, which was kind of funny.

I talked and laughed with my friends, and I don't think they realized how uncomfortable I was.

Sometime later when Clayton pulled Katie out on the dance floor and Brian had gone to the bar, the three of us, Izabelle, Ava, and I, were left alone.

"Spill it, sister," Izabelle demanded. "You've had that look on your face all night. I know something's wrong."

Ava's beautiful face crumpled, and for a second I thought she might cry. "I'm not going ruin the fun," she pouted.

"We're not having any fun," Izabelle told her. "We haven't had fun tonight, right Lucy?" Izabelle urged me to play along.

"Tonight has been a drag," I assured Ava. "There is absolutely no possible way you could ruin it."

Ava's mouth lifted at the corners. "You guys are awesome." When she didn't say anything else, I suggested, "Why don't I let you talk while I go chat with Brian."

"No, don't go Lucy." Ava placed her hand on my arm, stopping me. "I want you to stay."

"Yeah, Lucy. Definitely don't go hang out with Brian," Izabelle replied in a half-joking, half stay away from my man tone.

Ava and I smiled.

"I'm afraid I ruined things with Kyle," Ava admitted. "Maybe it's not meant for us to get back together."

I stifled a sigh of relief and tried to appear sympathetic.

"What happened?" Izabelle asked.

"I went to see him this evening, and he'd just gotten out of the shower."

A sliver of unease weaved through me, but I told myself it was because Kyle wasn't supposed to get his leg wet. It had nothing to do with Ava seeing fresh from the shower.

"I heard him stumble, and I thought he might need help so I went in and found him naked."

Did she expect to find him fully dressed in the shower? I did not want to hear this.

"I don't want to hear this," Izabelle echoed my thoughts.

"Nothing happened. I just stared at him." Ava turned to me. "Kyle looks amazing naked. Lots of rippling muscles." Her gaze swung to Izabelle.

I felt sick.

Izabelle grimaced. "That was a visual I could have lived without."

"Before I knew what I was doing, I was in his arms and kissing him," Ava told us, with a helpless look that said she couldn't have done anything else.

"I thought you said nothing happened?" I hoped my voice wasn't as sharp as I thought. Thankfully, neither of them was paying me much attention.

Ava chewed her bottom lip. "It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that he wasn't kissing me back, and I wasn't in his arms. I actually had my arms tangled around him. He was gentle about it, that's Kyle, but he pushed me away."

"Kyle pushed you away?" Izabelle was shocked.

"He apologized and told me he cared about me, but he wasn't in love with me anymore." She dropped her head into her hands. "He held me and tried to make me feel better, but he was serious when he said that we were over."

When she lifted her head, her cheeks were stained with tears. Ava was genuinely heartbroken.

I felt sorry for her.

Izabelle hugged her. "Oh honey, my little brother didn't mean that. He's been through a lot and he's not thinking clearly. Give him time. If you want, I can talk to him."

She seemed unsure. "I don't know. Kyle doesn't act like he wants me anymore. I never should have let him go."

"It'll be okay. Just leave my brother to me. You two are getting back together." Izabelle said it like she would move heaven and earth to make it happen.

Ava looked hopeful.

I tried not to look miserable.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Katie watching me and I knew she'd heard everything.

Later that night, Katie came into my room. "Are you awake?"

"I can't sleep. Did you see the look on Ava's face when she was talking about Kyle? And Izabelle was so upset."

"Yeah, I know." I'd been thinking about it a lot.

I sat up in the bed. Katie plopped down on my futon.

"She's worried about her brother."

"Look, I'm not judging Izabelle. I've got enough baggage to keep the Texas therapists in the black, but she's obsessed with her brother's life."

"Katie—"

"Not tonight, Lucy," she said, cutting me off before I could ask about her baggage. "This is about Izzy." She looked over at me. "What do you think that's about?"

I'd thought about it ever since we'd left Shooters. "The Fosters are like family to Izabelle. Maybe she's afraid of losing them if Ava and Kyle aren't a couple."

"Makes sense." She blew a strand of hair from her face. "Don't let what happened tonight change your mind about Kyle."

"Thanks, Katie." I reached for my phone but stopped. I thought about what Kyle said about leaving matters up to God when he prayed.

Closing my eyes, I prayed.

I thanked the Lord for what I had, asked Him for forgiveness for my sins, and asked Him to give me wisdom where Kyle was concerned.

I'd just finished when my phone dinged.

Kyle: Hey, you still up?

Me: No (with a laughing face) Just finished my prayers

Kyle: Me too. Have fun tonight?

Me: It was ok. You?

Kyle: Same. I missed you

Me: I miss you too

Kyle: See you tomorrow. Night, Lucy

Me: Goodnight Kyle