Page 83 of A Witch in Notting Hill

“Open mind, remember?” I said.

“For you,” he said, “anything.”

“What do I have to do to get that treatment?” Lola asked. “I’ve been asking you to do shit like this since uni. Willow just waltzes in—no offense, Willow—and now you’re Gandalf the Grey?”

“There are so many things wrong with that sentence I’m not even sure where to begin.” Oliver shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And need I remind you of the experimental Danish music festival we went to last year? Or the time Min and I came to see you in that play... What was it called?Crock of Bullshit?”

“Load of Lies,” she corrected him, and I bit my lip to stop from laughing. “Fine. Maybe you are supportive.”

“Was that so hard?” he asked, nudging her with his shoulder.

“Keep him in check, will you?” she asked me. “He’s exhausting.”

I saluted her, ignoring Oliver when he threw his hands up in protest.

“Oh, relax,” I said, linking my other arm through his and pulling him deeper inside the park. “The festival awaits.”

Chapter 28

Oliver

Ithought I knew what it meant to be overstimulated, but the festival taught me I hadn’t even scratched the surface. Why was everything on fire? And why was there so much glitter?

And did the godforsaken drumming ever stop?

But one look at Willow and the glint in her eyes behind the mask reminded me why we were here, and that I promised to be open to the festival and all it had to offer. A promise that would be easy to keep if she kept up the doe-eyed look.

“Someone remind me what exactly we have to do here?” I asked.

“I think we’re doing it,” Willow said. “All the list said was to participate in the ceremony and stay awake until the following sundown, so... I guess this is it? Except none of you have to stay up. I can do that bit on my own.”

“Are you insane?” Lola asked, taking the words right out of my mouth for what might have been the first time in our lives. “Of course we’re going to stay up with you. We haven’t pulled an all-nighter together since graduation. It’ll be fun.”

Willow looked to me for confirmation, and I gave her a firm nod. “What fun is staying up all night alone?”

The longer we stared at each other, the clearer it became we were thinking the same thing: staying up all night together was a recipe for disaster. Things were bound to unravel between now and tomorrow night. And we were pulling the loose thread.

We walked deeper into the festival, keeping tight to each other as we made our way through the maze and to the nearest bar. “Drinks?” Min asked, pointing at each of us and taking our orders. “Ol, give me a hand, will you?”

“Don’t move,” I said to Willow and Lola.

“Afraid I’m going to whisk her away?” Lo asked.

“Quite literally.”

“You can relax, you know,” she said. “She can take care of herself. If she gets whisked away, that’s her decision.”

“I know that,” I said, rolling my eyes at Lola and turning my attention to Willow. “Please don’t get whisked away. Even of your own volition. She looks nice, but she’s insane.”

“Guilty.” Lola smiled.

“There will be no whisking,” Willow assured me. “But there might be running if you guys don’t get back here with drinks in the immediate future.”

“You heard the woman,” Lola said. “Off with you.”

I found Minho at the bar and squeezed in beside him, signaling the bartender and keeping an eye on Lola and Willow on the other side of the crowd. Their heads were bent together and they were both smiling wicked smiles and I could only imagine what they were saying.

“You good?” Min asked, following my line of sight.