Page 10 of Chasing Infinity

Chapter 3

Noah

“Well, well, look what thecat dragged in,” Jordan calls as I step into the little dive bar. He’s standing behind the bar wiping a few tumblers with a white towel. “Yo, Caleb! Get your ass out here.”

With the ruckus, I receive a few curious glares from the guys sitting at the bar. I narrow my eyes at them. Caleb walks out from the back, stopping abruptly when he sees me standing there.

“As my eyes deceive me. I know that isn’t Noah McCoy standing here in my bar.”

I cross my arms over my chest and hit my two best friends with a solid glare. “It’s Lockwood now. Noah Lockwood.”

Jordan whistles lowly and shares a cheeky grin with Caleb. “Sticking it to the man, huh? Wasn’t that your mother’s—?”

“Maiden name. Yes.”

“Well, that’s cute,” Caleb jokes with me, his face taking on a more serious expression. “But I get it, man.”

I stare at my friends for a moment, my eyes darting back and forth between the pair of them. I shake my head and laugh. “So this is what you two shitheads have been up to since I left?”

“That, among other things,” Jordan says as he steps around the edge of the bar to give me a hug. His arms wrap around my upper back, giving me a few solid claps on my shoulders. I hug him back. I haven’t seen either of them since I left.

“Missed you, brother,” I mutter. Jordan’s arms tighten around my shoulders.

“Hey, let me in on this love fest,” Caleb protests, walking toward us and enveloping us in a group hug.

These guys have been my best friends for as long as I can remember. We’ve been with each other through it all. They know me as well as I know myself—all the secrets I’ve kept and the skeletons hidden deep in the closets of the McCoy mansion.

When we’re finished being mushy with each other, I take a step back and stick my hands in my pockets, my eyes dancing around the bar. “I like it. It definitely suits the two of you.”

“Thanks, man,” Jordan responds, turning and heading back behind the bar. He sets to work filling up three glasses of beer from a tap. Caleb wanders over to the stools at the bar and settles in one, taking the glass Jordan offers him. I follow suit and take a deep swig, not minding that it’s barely noon.

“Fill me in on everything. What have I missed?” I ask.

“Jordan married Rose!” Caleb blurts out. I don’t miss the annoyed look Jordan gives our other friend.

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “For real?”

“Yeah, they eloped last summer. Pissed off their parentsrealbad.”

Jordan leans over and slaps Caleb upside the head. “Would you maybe mind lettingmetell my best mate about my marriage to his ex-girlfriend? I don’t like being thrown under the bus.”

I laugh and shake my head. “She was barely my girlfriend, and you know it.”

“Oh, I know, you were too busy making puppy dog eyes at Addison Parks to even pretend to care about Rose.”

I take another swig of beer and frown. “I was not.”

“We’re still doing this then, eh?” Caleb teases me. “It’s gonna be the whole, ‘I don’t like her’ game again. How’d that work out for you last time? Just be honest with yourself, Noah, for once in your damn life.”

“Noted,” I glower at him. “But my feelings for Parks have no place in her life anymore. And that’s on me, and I realize that. It’s just time for me to move on.”

“That’s right, she’s still with Monty, isn’t she?”

Another swig. “Apparently.”

Jordan laughs next to me. “I bet that really gets your gears grinding.”

“Can we not talk about Parks and Monty right now?” I shoot back, ignoring the jab from my friend. “Go on and tell me how you got lucky enough to elope with Rose.”

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