She rolled her eyes and said, “Of course it will be! I’m going with you so that clue doesn’t count. Give me another one.”
I chuckled and said, “Hmm. You have to wear a certain kind of shoes.”
Emily thought for a second and then asked, “Are we going bowling?” I nodded and she continued, “So that’s what the pair of socks was for? Well, why did you tell me to wear flip flops?”
“That is not going to be revealed until later.” She seemed content with that and found a station playing something she liked before turning the radio up a bit.
Twenty minutes later, I parked my car at the bowling alley. I went around and opened the door for Emily. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to me as we headed inside. “I’ve got mad skills, you know,” I told her.
She laughed and said, “I always play with gutter rails just so my score will be better.”
“No gutter rails today. Oh! I almost forgot.” I reached in my pocket and handed over the twenty bucks I had lost to her in our bet last night.
A smile took over her face and she stuffed it in her pocket. “Thank you.”
I chuckled and shook my head before we headed to the counter. I bought two games and we got our shoes before heading to our lane. Emily pulled out a thin pair of socks from her pocket and removed her feet from her flip-flops. I slipped my shoes off and replaced them with the bowling shoes. I stood, entered in our names, and then we headed to the counters behind us to pick out our balls.
“Ready?” I asked her once we returned to our seats. Emily nodded and I went first. The ball went a little to the left, but I still got a strike. “Yes,” I said, pumping my fist in the air as I turned to Emily. I stepped down from where the floor was elevated and gave her a quick kiss. “That is how you bowl.”
She laughed and walked around me. She stood in concentration for a moment and then rolled the ball down the lane. It headed right and knocked down a few pins. When her ball returned, she went back and knocked down the rest of the pins. “Your turn,” she said with a smirk as she passed me.
I got up and bowled a strike.
On Emily’s next turn she bowled a gutter ball each time. I tried not to laugh, but a chuckle escaped. She playfully backhanded me in the stomach, making me laugh more.
“Will you bowl already!” She exclaimed.
I grabbed my ball and knocked down six pins. The next one was a gutter ball.
On Emily’s turn, she did the thing I least expected. She granny-rolled the ball. It traveled slowly down the lane, but it knocked right into the first pin and sent the
rest crashing down.
I was standing just before the elevated portion of the floor and Emily came over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “That is how you bowl,” she said with a kiss. I laughed and shook my head. “Hey, I like it up here,” she said, noticing that she was taller now that I was standing on the lower level.
I laughed, gave her a quick kiss, and got my game on. The rest of the game, I bowled either strikes or spares. Emily continued to granny-roll the ball and got quite a few strikes. She did a little happy dance each time and the night was filled with laughs.
I won the first game and Emily won the second. We returned our shoes and headed to leave.
The bowling alley was connected to a strip mall and outside something caught Emily’s attention. “Jake! C’mon!” She took my hand and broke off into a run down the sidewalk.
“Where are we going?” I asked just as she stopped in front of an ice cream place, Cold Stone.
“You’ve never been, right?” She asked. I shook my head and excitement took over her as we headed inside. “You sit right there and I’ll be right back. You are going to love this place.”
I did as I was told and watched her as she ordered. She seemed so relaxed talking to the girl behind the counter. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and my eyes travelled down her body, down to her shapely, fit legs and back up. She caught me watching and a blush took over her cheeks, making me smile.
Minutes later she walked over with two spoons and a waffle bowl dipped in chocolate and filled with ice cream. She sat down beside me and told me to dig in. I spooned some up and stuck it in my mouth as Emily took her first bite. Emily closes her eyes and moaned. It was really good.
She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Isn’t it a piece of ice cream heaven?”
I grinned and said, “It sure is. What is it?”
“It’s their birthday mix. It’s my favorite.” We ate the ice cream in silence with the exception of an occasional moan from Emily.
“Well, this certainly ruins my dinner plans,” I said once we started eating the waffle bowl.
Emily looked at me with wide eyes. “Oops. I’m sorry, Jake.” I laughed and told her that it was fine and that it only meant that we could skip ahead to part two of our date.