16.
I was surprised to see that the so-called "party" Chris had invited me to, was taking place at The Green Mile: a mini golf course. And, from what I could tell from the mostly empty parking lot, there were not very many people here yet.
"Hey there sunshine," Chris greeted with a wide smile. He was the first of the small group to have noticed my arrival. It appeared to be Chris, Riley, and a few other guys I recognized from the hockey team. "Glad you made it."
"I thought you said that this was a party?" I asked, my gaze falling to the five guys standing behind Chris and Riley. Seven people wasn't much of a party.
Riley laughed, wrapped her arms around Chris's shoulder. "Chris was just messing with you by calling it a party. This is just a group of friends having fun with a friendly game of mini golf."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Then why did you call it a party?"
"Well, we are celebrating our win," one of the guys behind Chris piped in. "So technically, it is still a party."
Chris smirked. "Would you prefer the whole team? I'm sure you are disappointed that Aiden isn't here."
"No," I snorted, earning a laugh from the guys.
"Why don't we go ahead and get started," Riley said, thankfully changing the subject. She dropped her arms from around Chris and joined me at my side. "The game is all paid for."
"Do you know everybody?" Riley asked as the group began walking towards the course.
I scanned the five guys. They all looked familiar. I could have told you that they were on the hockey team, but I admittedly, did not know their names. Apart from Aiden and Chris, I didn't know anyone on the hockey team.
My cheeks flushed with heat. It was a bit embarrassing that I couldn't even tell them one of their names. Thankfully, no one seemed to judge. Instead, Chris just smiled and went down the line introducing me to everyone. All five guys greeted me with smiles, seemingly nice.
Nathan, Josh, Brett, Tyler, Brendon, I repeated each name in my head several times, matching the name to the face. I couldn't forget their names if I had to play a game of mini golf with them.
"Here you go," Josh, I believe was his name, said as he handed me a club and yellow golf ball. I took the club with a soft smile. "You uh, you look nice." Josh's cheeks flushed a light shade of pink and I had to force myself to not giggle. I didn't want to embarrass him considering how sweet he was being.
"Thanks," I answered cheerfully. My outfit wasn't anything extravagant, but I guessed it was a big change for him considering my usual attire at the rink. A pair of ripped jean shorts and a baby blue tube top weren't prime clothes for figure skating.
"Brett," Chris laughed, pulling my attention away from Josh and over to where the rest of the group had gathered at the first hole. "You can't do that."
I laughed, seeing Brett had stuck his foot in front of the hole, blocking Riley's red golf ball from making a hole-in-one.
"I wouldn't have thought that you boys would need to resort to cheating so early in the game," Riley snickered.
"Hold up," Tyler quickly said, holding his hands in defense. "Let's not group all of us into one collective group when it's clearly just Brett who cheats."
Brett grinned, feeling no shame in his cheating ways. "I gotta start early this game so that I might have a chance. Riley always kicks our butts."
Everyone laughed, including me. It wasn't surprising to learn that Riley was good at mini golf. With how easy she moved a goal with a puck, it was only natural that she would be good at mini golf. That said, in theory everyone here would be much better at this game than me.
Nathan leaned over from my right side, nudging my side lightly. "Brett always cheats. Don't let him fool you by saying it's because of Riley."
"I thought cheaters never win?" I asked, unable to hide the grin that had swept across my features.
Brett walked over next to me, swung an arm around my shoulders. He offered me a lazy grin. "It ain't cheatin' if you don't get caught."
"Dude," Nathan snickered. "You got caught. You weren't even remotely subtle about cheating either."
Brett shrugged, dropped his arm from me. "It's all part of the method."
"Method of losing maybe," Riley teased before she took her shot. The little red golf ball rolled in a straight line directly into the hole. She looked up at Brett after her shot with a smug smirk. "Cheat all you want. I'll still kick your ass."
"Your turn Zoe." Chris gestured me over to take my turn.
Slipping past Brett and the other boys, I approached the start area. I bent down, placed my yellow ball down onto the fake grass before standing straight up. I was the second person to go, but I had to follow up a hole-in-one. I had a hunch this game was going to be long, and embarrassing.
The first hole was supposed to be a simple, straight shot. There were no obstacles. So, in theory, it shouldn't have been an issue to score a hole-in-one like Riley had. Of course, I had no accuracy. I watched with a frown as the ball rolled several feet wide of the hole. As anticipated, I sucked.
"Want any help?" Brendon asked as he walked up next to me, placed a hand on my shoulder reassuringly. He must have noticed the large frown still present on my face as I stared down at the ball like I could will it with my mind to move closer to the hole.
I titled my head sideways, looking into a pair of soft hazel eyes. He seemed to be genuine, so I bit back my pride and nodded. "Sure."
Brendon grinned and stepped behind me, wrapped his arms around me. His hands came down over my own on the club and gently moved them to a different spot. He didn't seem to be acting in a flirty manner, rather a friendly one. I zoned.
Aiden had done a similar thing during our first practice together. He had placed his hands over my own, repositioning them to the proper location on a hockey stick. His arms weren't wrapped around me, but the action had its similarities.
I bit my lip, snapped out of my daze the second Brendon released his arms from around me.
"Then you just hit the ball lightly," Brendon finished.
I nodded, thankful that I was facing away from the group so that they couldn't see the redness that was threatening to spill across my face. Thankfully no could read my thoughts. They didn't know the traitorous thoughts my mind was having.
My eyes narrowed onto the hole as I refocused on the game. I swung my arms back, let them back down to hit the ball. I watched in what felt like slow motion as the little yellow ball rolled its way down the grass into the hole.
"Yes!" I exclaimed, jumping up with excitement. I spun around on my heel, mindlessly wrapped my arms around Brendon in a quick 'thanks for the help' embrace. Realizing my overly personal action, I quickly pulled away with a nervous cough. "Thanks for helping me."
Brendon smiled, his hazel eyes glistened. "You're welcome."
By the time we finished the eighteenth hole, I had completely relaxed and found myself having a great time with everyone. The guys were all surprisingly great. Each funny and charismatic in their own ways. Chris wasn't the only male hockey player that didn't completely suck after all.
Not one of the guys talked poorly about figure skating.
Riley had won the game, with Chris coming in a close second. No surprise, I came in last. Although with the help of everyone, I had gradually gotten better through each of the holes.
After parting with the guys, Riley and I ended up sticking around, just chatting by her car. It was exciting to talk with another girl that skated, but wasn't secretly wishing ill of me.
"What's the deal with you and Aiden?" Riley asked suddenly, changing the course of conversation from the lighthearted get-to-know someone questions.
"What do you mean?"
Riley smirked. "You know what I mean, Zoe."
Truthfully, I wasn't sure I did. The question was vague. There was a lot to the complex hatred between Aiden and me.
"Why do you hate each other so much?"
Because he's a hockey player, seemed like a poor answer considering the fun I just had with six of Aiden's teammates. Though that was what had started our feud. He was a grade A jerk who disrespected my sport.
"He's a jerk." It was a childish answer, but it was the truth.
Riley frowned; her green eyes flashed with disappointment. She glanced out at the mini-golf course. "You know, Aiden really is not a bad guy."
That I had a hard time believing. In almost every encounter that I had ever had with him, he made it a point to disrespect me or my sport. We were like cats and dogs. We just didn't get along.
"If you say so."
"I think you would find that he's no different then the rest of the guys. You seemed to enjoy yourself tonight, so you can't lie to me and say that all hockey players suck." She turned her head back to me and smirked, nudging my side. "Besides, I'm a hockey player too yah know."
I smiled. "Yeah, but you guys don't suck. You haven't seen Aiden when he's around me. I've never had a conversation with him that he didn't insult me in one way or another."
Riley's eyes narrowed like she didn't buy into what I was saying. "Hockey players aren't all bad. Will you at least try to give him a chance?"
I let out a long, low sigh. Tonight had been surprisingly fun with the hockey team. They were nothing like I had always pictured them in my head. They weren't out to get figure skating, and they all seemed to be friendly. Maybe Riley was right... Maybe I had misjudged all hockey players.