For The Love of Speed

Chapter 45: All the Holes

POV: Rouge

We leave the restaurant and head over to the mini-golf course in town. Once we get there, I pay our way in and walk to the first hole. Knuckles smiles and waves me to go first and I give him a warm smile back. "Ladies first~" I hear him say, which makes me chuckle. I walk up to the tee and place the ball down, feeling a pair of eyes on me. I turn around and look at Knuckles. I see his eyes are glued to my rear and he has a small smile on his face. I chortle and give him a suggestive face "What, like what you see?~" I tease. I see his face go red with embarrassment and I turn back to the tee, standing up and positioning my club. After a couple practice swings, I hit it for real, sending the ball up in the air for a minute, before landing on the soft grass and rolling down the course. Since this was the first hole it was fairly easy, and the ball rolls to the hole, circling once before dropping in, making me score a hole-in one. I raise my fist in victory and turn to my boyfriend "Yes! did you see that?" He smiles and walks up to me, giving me a quick peck on the cheek, resting his hand on the small of my back "Of course I saw, good job babe~" He bends down to set the ball, and I step back out of his way, holding my hand up to the cheek he kissed, with a smile. 'He can be so sweet if he wants to be' I think to myself as I watch him stand back up and get in his stance. He doesn't even take a practice swing, he just hits the ball with just enough force. I admire how he holds the club in the air, frozen, as if moving would cause the ball to change course. I turn my attention to the ball just as it lands straight in the hole, never once hitting the ground. 'Dang, I didn't know he was this good at golf. It's actually kind of hot' he lowers the club back down to the ground before picking it up and turning back to me. He smiles and walks up, confidence glowing. "I hope you saw that." I giggle and bat my eyes "Why would I watch anything else?~" He chuckles and we walk to the next hole together after writing down our score for the hole on our card. He let's me go first again, and I get another hole-in-one, this time without rolling around the hole first. I watch as he makes his swing, getting it in without the ball touching the ground. I smile proudly at him and we head onto the next hole. This one is a little more difficult, as it has many corners, so it takes me three times before I get the ball in. Knuckles has to hit it a second time before the ball goes in the hole.

We make our way through the courses, writing down our scores as we go until it comes to the last hole. Hole 18. The theme reminds me of Green Hills. The course is adorned with loopty loops, springs that send the ball backwards, inclines, and there's even a wooden bridge that goes over a small pond. I go first and make it through the first loopty loop, before the ball stops right at the top of the second hill. Knuckles goes and hits his ball, sending it though the loopty loops, hitting my ball, and sending them both down the hill with enough force to get them both over the second hill. My ball ends up passing his, so I'm able to go next. We continue taking turns, making our way to the end of the course. Knuckles manages to finish the course in only 5 swings, and I finish it in 8, having a bit of trouble at the end going through the 4 consecutive loopty loops. We hear claps around us and realise that a crowd has gathered. I chuckle nervously, realising that we were probably being watched that entire time. Knuckles seems confused as an employee walks up to him, holding a hand out for him to shake, which knuckles complies. The employee is a human male, standing at about 6 feet, with a bald head, red tinted face and neck, and out turned ears. He smiles with a toothy grin, revealing... fangs?... "Nice to meet you, my name is David Davidson. Yeah I know, unfortunate name. Anyway, I'm the owner of establishment. Whats your name?" Knuckles crosses his arms casually, and replies "I'm Knuckles and she's Rouge." The man smiles and says "We actually have a reward for succeeding in beating the record of the last hole. You sir, just broke a record. The quickest someone has beaten this hole used to be 7 shots, and you managed to do it in 5. Judging by your confused faces, you weren't aware of the challenge, so if you'd like to come to my office we can discuss it there instead." I watch as Knuckles just shrugs and nods his head "Sure, we can all go to your office." The man nods and we follow him through the main building to a large office. He sits in a big chair behind a desk and motions to the two cushioned chairs in front of us.