To Die For - Davidson King Page 0,39

gaze, hoping he understood he was one of the people I had misjudged.

“Yeah. Happens.” He shrugged, and the server brought the receipt over. Max signed it and stood. “Ready for part two of our date?”

That surprised me. Most people I’d ever been on dates with would feed me and then want to fuck me. “And what is part two?”

“Ahh, come, my little pink-haired dancer, and I will show you.”

I laughed as I followed him to his truck. He waved at Biggs as we left, and the bubbles of excitement was a wonderful feeling. I never felt dread with Max—in fact, the complete opposite. Whenever I was with Dorian, years ago, all I felt was a suffocating fear. Max’s laughter wasn’t sadistic, it was joyful. There wasn’t a hidden agenda with Max…not like with Dorian.

Max wouldn’t tell me where we were going, and I found I didn’t care. He’d probably make sitting in a junkyard fun. We drove for about ten minutes, me talking about dancing and Max asking me a million questions about it. He pulled into a lot which was filled with a ton of cars.

“What is this place?” I asked. I had lived in Haven Hart for a long time, and I never knew this was here.

“I don’t know whether to be happy you don’t know of this place or appalled you don’t since you’ve lived here so long.” He tapped his chin. “I’ll say happy. I’ll enjoy showing it to you.” He hopped out of the truck and rushed over to my side to get the door.

“You’re quite the gentleman, Max Fazio.”

He bowed dramatically, making me laugh. I took his offered hand, and he helped me out of the truck, even though I didn’t need it. It wasn’t often I was treated with such respect from guys I’d gone out with. I knew he was doing it out of respect and not because he thought I was weak, but it was how he was raised, so I was happy to oblige. I was surprised when he didn’t let go as we headed toward what appeared to be an opening.

“Is that a trellis?” I asked.

“Yeah, sort of. It’s all flowers and vines. In the spring, it’s bright flowers and smells amazing.” We walked up to a man, who smiled at Max.

“Good evening, Max, so glad you were able to make it this year.”

“No way I was missing this. I know Ma came by last night, have my sisters?” Max talked to the guy who was sitting there, clearly knowing him, and it was becoming apparent there was a crazy amount of people Max knew.

“Yes, they came with your mother last night.”

Max handed the guy a twenty. “Well, Phil, I bet it’s going to be amazing this year. This is Lane, and he has never seen this, so it’ll be a treat.”

Phil smiled, exposing yellow-stained teeth, but the grin brightened his entire face. He was easily in his seventies, but he looked younger when he was happy.

“I do love new people. Enjoy yourselves.”

Max hadn’t let go of my hand, and I followed him under the trellis. He kept walking and it was dark at first, but after a few feet I saw a faint glow.

“What is that?” I asked in wonder. Max chuckled but didn’t say anything.

We made a left, and my eyes widened at the sight before me. Lights…millions of them probably. They were strung on the trees, bushes, food carts. There was a gazebo also covered in blue lights and a band setting up. They were wearing suits that were all different colors and glow in the dark. To the right of them was a Ferris wheel. It was like a circular rainbow with each cart lit up a different color.

“How have I never seen this place?”

“This is the Night of Lights.” Max waved his hand. “It used to be one night, but now they have it for a couple of nights. But you can’t change a name once people get used to it.”

I smiled and followed as Max dragged me along the grounds. The band started playing, and people gathered. We watched them for a few minutes until he asked if I wanted to go on the Ferris wheel.

“Yeah. It’s huge. I really don’t know how I never knew about this event.”

“One thing I’ve learned about Haven Hart is that just when you think you’ve figured it out or seen it all, something new pops up,” Max said as we stood in line for the ride.

“Very