The Middle - Volume Three ✔️

Chapter 65 (Patrick)

"Sorry, dude." I say, because I feel responsible for that.

"Water under the bridge." He waves his hands dismissively. "Text Lindsay. We can go to the Grill."

And we do go the the Grill. Lindsay was more than happy to come along, she wanted to get away from all the tears and miserable faces at her mom's house. And she actually seems really happy. She's enjoying catching up with Jay, too. This was a good decision. I'm glad the three of us came out.

"Patrick, isn't that the guy we saw at the movie theatre the other night?" Lindsay says, casually inclining her head while sipping red wine from her plastic cup.

I turn and see Noah across the bar, same level as us. Fantastic. He's with some random guys I don't recognise. Well, that's just. Great.

"You said he was Jamie's ex? Or boyfriend, or something?" Lindsay asks innocently.

"Boyfriend." I say bitterly at the same time Jay says "Ex."

We each raise an eyebrow at each other.

"She turned him down, dude." Jay says, shrugging his shoulders. "She did the right thing. You know that?"

"Yeah, she said that." I recall. "But it hasn't stopped her hanging out with him since. I saw her going into his dorm the other night. And I saw them at the Grill together too."

"Really? She never told me about that." Jay looks genuinely surprised. There. You see, Jay? There is still something going on between her and Noah, no matter what she's told us.

"We could ask him?" Lindsay suggests. What the fuck?

"He's not exactly our friend, Lindsay." Jay points out with a dry laugh. A I hate that prick laugh. Yes, Jay.

"Well, he's no one to me." Lindsay notes, setting her cup down on the bar and smoothing out her hair. "How do I look? I'm gonna go flirt with him and see how he responds."

"What?" I pretty much yell. "Why?!"

"To see if he has any loyalties to Jamie, of course. You two seem to have completely different thoughts on the matter, and Jamie isn't around. I wanna get to the bottom of this." Lindsay shrugs out of her pink cardigan, exposing her bare arms. Wow, she really is doing this. Okay then. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in the results of her little experiment.

"Since when were you so confident?" I murmur to her.

"You and I both know I could use the practice. And it's not like I'm actually interested in this boy. It's fine." She winks at me before walking off towards Noah. I'm stunned. Fucking stunned.

"I like her!" Jay says with a laugh. "We should hang out with her more."

I shake my head and watch as Lindsay approaches Noah and the other boys. She tosses her golden hair back over her shoulder and locks eyes on him. It's clear he's the only one she's interested in. Or, pretend interested in. I have no fucking idea how this is gonna go. If she tells him she's a virgin, I know he'll try to take her home, regardless of any relationship he may be in with Jamie.

Wait. That's right. He's an unfaithful bastard. This is not gonna prove whether or not him and Jamie are still an item! He'd go for Lindsay whether or not he was a taken man - because he's an asshole. I need to stop this, as much as I don't wanna talk to him. I need to do something. Shit!

And just like that, I find myself striding over to his table. I completely ignore all of his friends eyes turning towards me, and I approach Lindsay from behind just as she says "Wow, so you guys all run Track?"