Page 17

CHAPTER 17

FROST

F rost was embarrassed when Hel strode around the curtain to his cubicle, pushing a wheelchair.

“I can walk,” he grumbled.

Hel raised an eyebrow. “Can you? Or did you get carted in here because you fell down?”

“I was drunk,” Frost defended himself.

“Are you sober now?” she fired back.

Frost thought about it for a moment. “Not entirely.”

“Get in.” Hel gestured to the wheelchair. “I don’t want you eating shit as I can’t lift you. If you fall down, you’re staying on the floor.”

Frost glanced at her sharply. Was she referring to him carrying her? Did she think about it too? Her face gave nothing away, so he huffed and manoeuvred carefully into the chair. His pride wouldn’t admit it, but he was glad she had insisted. He wasn’t feeling fantastic and appreciated not having to walk to the car with his crutches.

Hel unceremoniously dumped his backpack onto his lap. “Carry this.”

He winced as the bottle of whisky hit him, and he flushed in embarrassment at his earlier behaviour. That wasn’t him. He prided himself on being a good example to his team, aware fans could be anywhere, and he didn’t want kids—that once he was just like—looking at him and thinking they could behave badly and get away with it.

He wouldn’t pretend he had never let loose, he certainly had when he was a young player. But now, he was always careful. Maintain your composure and maintain your image.

It was embarrassing to have drunk himself into oblivion because his leg was sore. Because he had been called a has-been by someone whose self-worth was directly linked to how many followers they had on Instagram. Because a woman he liked pulled a face.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Frost mumbled.

“Pardon. What did you say?” Hel began to push him along the corridor.

“I’m sorry,” he said a bit louder.

“Pardon?”

“I’m sorry.” Frost twisted his head to look at her, and she was grinning, clearly enjoying making him apologise.

“I didn’t quite catch that.” Hel started to giggle, her hazel eyes twinkling.

Frost couldn’t look away. She was so unguarded. There was no artifice, no wondering what she looked like as she laughed. He realised it was more attractive than any practised look he had ever seen Patricia give.

“I’M SORRRYYYYYY, HEL.” He played along, saying it louder and slower.

This made her laugh more, and he couldn’t help it, he laughed along with her.

“I forgive you. Although you seriously upset my ambos by acting like the Incredible Hulk.”

Hel pushed his shoulder gently, and Frost froze for a moment as he felt an electric spark under his skin.

Frost swallowed a couple of times and rolled his shoulder to get rid of the feeling before he said. “What’s an Ambo?”

“It’s an Australianism for the paramedics, although what do you guys call them? EMT, maybe?”

“I think that’s American. In Canada, I guess paramedic. I don’t really know. I try not to be carted away by ambulance too often.”

“So, no previous PFO for you?” Hel chortled.

Frost grumbled. “Oh man, What does that one mean?”

“Pissed and fell over. We use it as shorthand in Emergency.” Hel giggled, before she added. “I wrote it in your medical notes.” When she said that, she full-on started to laugh.

“You did not,” he denied.

“I totally did. We’re not meant to, but it seemed so apt, I couldn’t stop myself.” Her shoulder shook with how much she was laughing, and she let go of the wheelchair with one hand to wipe at a tear that had escaped.

“Wow. You’re ruthless!” Frost chuckled along with her.

“Yup!” Hel agreed, pushing him out the sliding doors of the hospital and over to the staff car park.

“Right, this is me.” Hel pulled the wheelchair up to a car, which looked like it had last been washed when she bought it.

Frost eyed the car for a moment and almost remarked on its grubby state, but then he checked himself and remembered his privilege. He had a service which came every week to clean his rental car, and not everyone could afford that.

Staring at her car, one driven by a normal, hardworking person, gave him another glimpse into the real world, a world he hadn’t lived in for a long time as he had been buffered by his success.

He knew now that he wasn’t playing, his name would begin to fade from people’s memories. His face wouldn’t be instantly recognised by sports fans, and he would have to move back into the real world.

Examining his feelings about that, he was surprised when it didn’t feel bad, and he actually liked the idea of a normal life. With a dirty car because no one cared if it was clean and an anonymous existence where he wasn’t on display.

He was already getting a taste for that life living in Australia, having discovered no one really cared about ice hockey.

“Sorry. The car’s a mess.” Hel unlocked the door and opened it for him.

“No problems.” Frost hoisted himself out of the chair and hopped into the car, slightly disappointed when she didn’t put a hand on his arm to steady him.

Hel walked around to the driver’s side and chucked her workbag over the seat into the back of the car. Frost frowned when he noticed her bag was a reusable supermarket shopping bag and her rear seat was piled high with similar bags. Was she moving?

“I’ll be a few minutes taking the wheelchair back. Don’t puke in my car.” Hel peered in at him, giving him a cheeky grin.

“Ha ha,” Frost said sarcastically, as she walked away laughing.

Frost closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat. He tried not to recall how he had acted earlier, but snippets kept coming back to him. He seemed to remember singing loudly. And pushing someone, who must have been one of the ambos—he liked that word—that Hel told him he had hulked out on. Shit, he was mortified.

When Hel climbed into the car, slamming the door, he peeled his eyes open, having nearly fallen asleep in the quiet.

“Do you mind if we nip to the shops? I need a couple of things, and you said you wanted milk and bread. Also, I’m treating myself to an Indian takeaway tonight. Do you want some?”

“That sounds amazing.” Frost’s mouth watered as soon as she mentioned food. He would kill for a curry, naan bread, and poppadums’. His diet was usually so bland to keep himself in peak form for hockey, but that no longer mattered. He could enjoy delicious food without guilt.

“Great. The takeaway is next to the supermarket. I’ll order when we arrive, then do the shop, and it’ll be ready when I’m done.” Hel picked up her phone and handed it to Frost. “Can you add your shopping list to the notes app? If you don’t, I’ll forget what you need the second I go in.”

“Sure.” Frost stared at the battered phone in his hand, which looked like it had survived being run over, with a dented case and cracked screen protector.

Hel glanced across at him and must have seen him turning her phone around to examine the damage. “It’s my own fault. I keep it in the top pocket of my scrubs, and every time I bend over, it hits the floor.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why she didn’t buy a new one when he bit off his words, reminding himself again that not everyone was as privileged as him.

Playing with the Wombats had reminded him of that. None of the players were paid to play, they all did it because they loved it and had ‘real’ jobs outside hockey, which didn’t earn them the millions he had been contracted for.

He added his list to hers, then opened the camera app and leaned towards her.

Hel’s eyes cut to him. “What are you doing?”

“Selfie.” He snapped a photo and checked the shot. When he saw it, he began to laugh.

“What?” Hel asked.

She pulled up at some traffic lights, so Frost held her phone out to show her.

“I look absolutely terrible!” Frost said.

His hair was wild, and his stubble messy, not styled like he usually kept it. He had black rings under his eyes, and now he stared at the screen harder, he noticed some drool on his chin.

Hel looked a lot better than him, at least she hadn’t dribbled on herself—he wiped at the drool with his hand—but her mouth was wide open, and she was frowning.

“That’s awful. Why would you do that?” Hel reached out to snatch the phone, but the light went green, and she had to drive.

“It seemed like a good idea.” Frost shrugged.

“Delete it,” Hel demanded. “I look rough.”

“No, you don’t.” Frost looked again.

Her hair was wild after she had taken out her hairband and her hazel eyes sparked with outrage at him taking the photo. She may have been tired, but she looked fantastic and alive, not artificial or posed.

“Come on, Frost. Delete it.” She sounded exasperated.

“Okay.” He regretfully deleted it and changed the subject. “Why do you have so much stuff in the back of your car?” Frost indicated to the collection of bags on the back seat.

Hel sighed deeply. “That,” she pointed her thumb over her shoulder, “are all my worldly possessions.”

“Okay,” Frost said slowly. He owned more things in Australia and he didn’t even live here. And, why was it all in her car? “Why are you driving it around with you?”

For a second, he thought maybe she lived in her car. He had read about the rental crisis in Australia. But he dismissed that. There was no way she lived in her car, she had a well-paying job.

“My house burned down the night you got injured,” Hel said.

Frost blinked in surprise, that had not been what he was expecting her to say. “You’re living in your car?”

“No.” Hel sputtered. “I was staying with Clara, but there’s a long story about no spare room, which I won’t go into. We were sharing a room, but Taylor just got back after being away for a few weeks, and I didn’t want to impose.”

“And they’re disgustingly in love?” Frost suggested.

“Absolutely.” Hel agreed. “The public displays of affection are out of control, and I don’t want to have to bleach my eyeballs.”

“Fair.” Frost nodded in agreement.

“Clara tried to insist I stayed on the sofa. But that’s the worst, as it’s right outside their bedroom door.” Hel shivered. “I politely declined.”

“What about Sadie?” He recalled her other friend.

“She’s married, has two kids, and they only live in a two-bedroom house. So I can’t stay there.”

“What are you going to do? Do you have family nearby?” He leaned towards her, his eyes full of concern.

“Nope. My family are a few hours away.”

“So?” He left the question in the air.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan. I’m going to stay in at Creekside Lodge until one of Clara and Taylor’s cottages are free.”

Frost frowned. “Cottages? Now I’m confused.”

“Ten-second summary. They own one hundred acres with a main house and three cottages. It turns out the building was crap, and they’ve had to gut the lot to repair it. They’re living in one of the cottages. As soon as another’s finished, I’m moving into that.”

“How long will that take?” Frost asked.

“They said it’ll be close to their wedding.”

Frost’s eyebrows drew down. He didn’t know why he was so invested—well, he did.

He wasn’t even surprised at the next words out of his mouth. “You should come and stay at my house.”

Hel didn’t say anything and kept staring straight ahead, but he could see her knuckles go white where they clutched the steering wheel.

“I’ve got a four-bedroom house. The guest room has an en-suite.” He tried to sweeten the deal, suddenly very invested in having her come and stay with him.

“That’s really nice of you, but I can’t.” She shook her head.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know you. You don’t know me,” Hel sputtered.

“Ask me anything. You can phone my mom if you want. She’ll vouch for me.” Frost grinned when that made her laugh.

“Thanks. I don’t need to ring your mum. I’ve already Googled—“ Hel bit off her sentence.

Frost pounced on her words. “Have you Googled me?”

Hel flushed, the colour rising up her cheeks. “No,” she denied.

“You have!” Frost began to bounce gleefully in his seat but stopped when his stomach flipped from the hangover and his leg burned from the break. He was a mess.

“Maybe,” Hel conceded.

“Maybe means yes. What did you see?” He was genuinely interested to find out what she knew.

“You’re from Vancouver,” she said and stopped.

“That’s it?” He pushed.

“Yeah.” The flush that increased in colour suggested she was lying.

He waited, but she didn’t say any more, and he finally said, “You went on my Wikipedia page?”

“No,” she answered too quickly and blushed more.

“Uh-huh.” Frost’s lips twitched up about the fact she wanted to find out more about him.

“Okay. I glanced at your Wikipedia page.”

“Is that all you looked at?” he pushed. He really hoped she hadn’t seen about Frosty’s Females. He found that all very embarrassing.

Staring at her, he saw the redness increase on her cheeks as she answered.

“That’s all I read,” Hel mumbled.

“Uh-huh,” he said again but didn’t make any further comment about it, as he would like to avoid talking about his fan club if he could.

Instead, he chose to go back to trying to persuade her to stay with him. “You’ve barely Googled,” he hesitated, then added with a grin, “and not read much about me on Wikipedia. How about I tell you about myself and let you phone my mom. Then you’ll have no reason not to stay at my house?” Frost didn’t know why he was pushing so hard—okay, he was lying to himself. He did know. He wanted to get to know her better, and if she stayed with him, that would happen.

“I’m not phoning your mum,” Hel said adamantly.

“Fine, I’ll tell you about myself.” He waited for her to respond.

Finally, she rolled her eyes and grumbled, “Fine.”

“My name’s Jake Winston Forster.” His eyes swung to hers, even as Hel looked resolutely at the road in front. “Which you know, because you full named me in the ambulance.”

Hel opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, then muttered, “I didn’t think you would remember that.”

“I was drunk, but that had a very sobering effect on me. Anyway, my name is Jake Winston Forster. I was born and raised in Vancouver. I grew up with my mom and dad, who are both teachers. I have an older brother, Garret, who is an engineer and a younger sister, Jessica, who is a stay-at-home mom. They’re all back in Canada.

“I’m thirty-six years old, and I’ve been an ice hockey player for as long as I can remember. But I turned professional when I was twenty-two. I spent a year playing in the AHL before I got called to the NHL.”

Hel interrupted him. “What is the AHL?”

“You really know nothing about hockey!” Frost was delighted. It was refreshing to be talking to someone who didn’t have an ulterior motive because of who he was.

“Nothing at all,” she admitted with a shrug.

“It’s the American Hockey League. It’s like a feeder league to the NHL. Which I assume you’ve heard of?”

Hel nodded. “Yup. I’ve heard of that one.”

“Great. Since then, I’ve been a defenceman on five different teams. And I retired from the Vancouver Vultures at the end of the last season.” He gave her the short summary as he felt the longer one would bore her.

“You came to Australia for a documentary?” she supplied.

“Yeah. I couldn’t play another season in the NHL. I’m getting slower, and things that didn’t used to hurt were hurting. I love the game, but I knew it was time to stop and coming here gave me a little bit more ice time before the end of my career.” Frost’s voice sounded wistful.

“Until Jax. He looked like he was out to get you.”

“Yeah, he was. We had some bad blood. We used to play on the same team. He always thought I stole his position. But the reality was, he got caught up in the fanfare that can surround the game. The drinking, the women, and the endorsement deals. His game suffered. I got a position in the first pair, and he didn’t. He’s never forgiven me.”

“So he broke your leg so badly that you’ll never play again?” Hel sounded angry, and she was scowling.

“Yeah. He finally got ‘revenge’ on me for taking his position by ending my career.”

“What a shithead!” Hel exclaimed.

“Yup,” Frost agreed. He hoped he would never see Jax again, as when he thought of the other man, his blood boiled.

“Will there be any repercussions for him?”

Frost said bitterly. “Nothing that will pay for him ruining the end of my career.”

“Shit,” Hel muttered.

“Total shit,” Frost agreed.

They both fell silent, and Frost stared out through the front windscreen with unseeing eyes. He still couldn’t believe fifteen years of playing professional ice hockey was over.

Frost started in surprise when Hel drew into a parking space, turned the engine off and swivelled in her seat to face him. He had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t even noticed her pull into the parking lot.

“I won’t be long.” Hel took her seat belt off and grabbed her phone from him.

He shook himself out of his self-pity to reply, “Thanks, I’m not even going to try and insist I come. I don’t think I’d make it the whole way without eating shit.” A smile quirked at the corner of his lips as he used the phrase she had uttered that first day on the ice.