“Lachlan,” Steph explains.
Linden cocks his head and eyes me in the rear-view mirror. “You like Lachlan?”
I bury my face in my hands and groan. “What is this, the fourth grade?” I raise my head and look at him. “I think your cousin is stupidly good-looking. Okay?”
“Don’t listen to her,” Steph whispers. “She’s got it bad.”
I can’t deny that, so I don’t. I say to Linden, “I thought you knew that. I figured that’s why you were talking to Lachlan about hooking up with the half-dressed chicks at the festival.”
He shakes his head, looking confused. “Is that why Bram was kicking me? I didn’t know. I just wanted him to have a little fun. The guy could use a little fun in his life.”
“I agree with that,” I mumble.
We ride in silence for a little while until I see Linden glancing at me with a dumb smirk on his face.
“What now?” I ask.
“I had no idea you liked the silent type.” He wags his brows at me. “I thought you liked the loudmouths more.”
“Oh, like you? Please. And just because I’m a loudmouth doesn’t mean I like loudmouths. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Bram already told me I’m barking up the wrong tree, as if I couldn’t tell already.”
Linden seems to consider that. “I dunno. He’s definitely not a relationship kind of guy, seeing as he’s leaving in like a week. But I don’t think he’d toss you out of bed.”
“Well, he kind of tossed me out of his apartment.”
He shrugs. “I’m just saying. He’s hard to get through to and he’s not easily persuaded, as I am sure you know at this point, but he’s still a dude with a dick. I say, make your moves. Again. Let him really know.”
I sigh. “He knows.”
“Does he? Try telling him.”
“He’ll reject me.”
“And I’m sure you’ll hold it against him for years to come,” he says dryly. “But if he doesn’t reject you...isn’t that worth it?”
Steph grins at Linden and runs her hand through his hair. “Do you see this? Do you see what harmony and unity comes from you guys being nice?”
I try not to think she has a point. And I try not to think that Linden is right.
After driving around the Richmond district for twenty minutes, we finally find a parking spot and join the throngs of festival goers heading into the park. Linden grabs a few beers from a man on the street corner selling them illegally from his cooler and hands them to us.
I don’t drink beer very often, but I down that can in seconds. Maybe it’s the infectious energy in the air and the fact that I’ve been cooped up in my apartment for a week. Maybe it’s because I keep thinking about what Linden said and I need the liquid courage.
We slip in through the crowds, the VIP wristbands working just fine, and head towards the beer and wine tents. In the distance from stages unseen, muted music thumps through the eucalyptus trees, carried by the ever-present mist.
I know I should eat lunch first, but my initial instinct is to get in one of the massive lines to buy local wine in tiny plastic cups. Steph waits with me while Linden gets on his phone and tracks down Bram and the others.
By the time we’re both two-fisting glasses of red and fighting our way out of the growing mass of wine-hungry music fans, we spot Linden with Nicola and Bram, Ava sitting high on his shoulders and looking around in awe.
I don’t want the first words out of my mouth to be, “Where’s Lachlan?” but that’s exactly what I say.
Nicola, looking cute in a sundress and jean jacket, points toward the main gate. “It’s a non-smoking event. He wanted to finish his cigar.”