The Light To His Darkness

25

M A S O N

I stare in shock at the score board as Lily gets her fifth strike in a row. This can't be her first time.

My gaze snaps back to Lily when I hear her giggling. She's jumping up and down excitedly, while staring at our lane. "Did you see that Masey?"

I slowly nod, before looking at her suspiciously. "Are you sure your parents haven't brought you before, and you just don't remember?" I wonder, standing up from my seat to grab my ball now that it's my turn again.

She laughs at my question. "I swear!"

I mumble under my breath and look away from her.

"I can help you if you want." She offers, looking up at me with her big brown eyes.

Yeah right. A small 4'11 girl helping a guy twice as big as her, not something you'd usually see.

Lily gives me puppy dog eyes after seeing my hesitance. "Please? Let me help you."

My eyes soften. Dammit.

I immediately give in. "Fine."

She grins and leads me over to the lane.

"Okay, so you just have to stand like this, with your left leg forward and your right leg a little further back." She stands behind me and moves my legs, so they're in the correct position, and then places her hand on the ball over mine. Anybody watching this would think we were crazy. "Then, you take a few steps forward..." I walk forward doing as she says. "And let go."

I immediately let go of the ball, watching in amazement as it rolls perfectly in the middle, and soon enough, knocks down all ten of the pins.

"Look, you did it Masey!" She exclaims, just as excited as she was before, when she did it herself.

I smile and turn around to face her again. "You're full of surprises, aren't you Lily?"

~

"Can you please tell me where we're going now?" Lily whines, as she sits in the passenger seat of my car, arms crossed and a blindfold over her eyes.

I laugh at her impatience. "Soon Lils, I promise."

She lets out a puff of air and mumbles under her breath.

"And...we're here." I tell her, after putting the the car in park.

Lily lets out a small squeal and bounces in her seat, hovering her hands over the blindfold. "Can I take it off now?!"

"Yes Lily, now you can take it off." I try to hold back my laugh from how anxious she is.

She immediately rips it off, while I nervously wait for her reaction. Her eyes widen as they scan the area, and she lets out a gasp.

"You can get out if you want to." I say softly.

She sends me a glance before doing exactly that, and I follow. There's a wooden dock, with a tent big enough for both of us to sit in, with a blanket and a couple pillows. There are lanterns surrounding the whole thing and the view from the dock is amazing.

I made sure we got here in time to see the sunset.

I watch as she walks towards the edge of the dock and places her hands on the wooden rail. I don't hesitate to walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.

"Do you like it?" I ask quietly, trying not to sound so nervous.

She slowly nods. "I love it. It's beautiful."

A smile appears on my face at her approval. "Good, i'm glad. I was thinking we could have a picnic? I had Noah bring me the food when we were at the bowling alley." I move my hands to her hips and turn her around.

She quickly nods, with a smile on her face as well. "I would love to."

With that said, I lead her over to the tent. "Make yourself comfortable." And then I watch as she sits down on the blanket, cuddling herself into the pillows, before I do the same after grabbing the basket from the side.

"Did you make all this?" She asks, as I pull out the sandwiches, cut up fruits, chocolate covered strawberries, which I know are Lily's favorite, and homemade lemonade.

I feel my face get a little red and I scratch the back of my neck nervously. "Maybe?"

In the corner of my eye, I see her scoot closer to me, before she leans up to kiss my cheek. "Thank you, this is an amazing first date." She giggles, and i'm almost positive it's because of the fact that i'm blushing.

I try not to show it, but i'm actually really relieved. I was super nervous about tonight, and hearing her say that she really does like it makes me happy.

Ask Noah. I was a nervous wreck, and almost didn't finish the food in time.

"I'm happy you think that. There will be plenty more of them too." I look down at her with a small smile.

Lily nods in agreement and returns her gaze down to the food. "Can we eat now?"

I chuckle at her eagerness, but nod. "Eat whatever you'd like."

For the next hour we talk and laugh about random things while eating our food. I learned a lot more about her.

"I don't wanna leave." Lily whines, from her position on my lap. She's straddling my waist, with her head resting on my chest.

"I can bring you back if you want, angel, but right now it's getting too cold and I don't need you getting sick." I run my fingers through her hair.

"Okay." She mumbles, letting out a small yawn afterwards. She must be tired.

I stand up, still holding onto her, and make my way over to the car. I somehow manage to open the door to the passenger side and carefully place her on the seat, as she slowly drifts off.

I'll have one of my guys clean up the area for extra pay.

As i'm pulling out of the dirt road, Lily mumbles something that I could just barely hear. "Thank you Masey."

I glance at her and can't help but smile at how precious she looks. "Anything for you, Lily."

I'd do anything for her.