Page 20

CHAPTER 20

HEL

“W ho's going to be there tonight?” Frost asked Hel as she drove them to her regular Wednesday night pub quiz.

“Clara, Taylor and Sadie, who you’ve met before. Gloria, who is Taylor’s mum and an absolute riot. Mike and Andre, who are both general surgeons. Then there’s Lily. She’s an O and G surgeon.”

“Sorry, what’s that?” Frost interrupted.

“Obstetrics and gynaecology.” She waited a beat for Frost to respond, and when he didn’t, she added, “You know, a vagina and baby surgeon. In case you don’t know what a vagina is, it’s the lady parts. People have given it a lot of different names over the years. Like vajayjay, and punani. Do you need me to give you some other examples?” Hel kept her voice innocent and smiled sweetly as she said the words she knew would make him laugh.

“Oh my god, no.” Frost shook his head, chuckling so hard tears collected in the corner of his eyes. “You take things too far.”

“What? Is there something wrong with the word vagina, or vajayjay or punani?” she enquired.

“No. It’s how you say it.” Frost wiped at his eyes.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Hel began to giggle.

“Who else?” Frost tried to manoeuvre the conversation back on track.

“Jackie. She’s a Urologist. That’s a pe—“

Frost broke in before she could complete her sentence. “I know what that is.”

“You definitely do?” She kept her voice innocent but didn’t wait for him to confirm before she continued. “Because it’s a penis doctor.”

Frost started laughing again. “Oh, no, stop.”

Hel grinned. She loved making him laugh and found her deadpan explanations for things most people found far too much information was a surefire way to set him off.

It was a good thing she didn’t get embarrassed easily, as when you regularly had to enquire about how the inanimate object ended up inserted into an orifice it shouldn’t go, you weren’t afraid of a few words to describe private parts.

Frost laughed some more and reached over, putting his hand on her shoulder. Hel flushed as a bolt of electricity rippled through her from his touch.

This was a problem. She really, really liked him and wanted to spend all her free time with him. While she was usually fearless and would tell a man she liked them and wanted to date them, this was so much more complicated than that.

He was providing her with free accommodation and also buying most of the food and refusing to take money from her—she kept sneaking fifty dollar bills into his wallet to try and at least contribute—and if that wasn’t enough, he was leaving. His whole life was in Canada. And last of all, she wasn’t his type, as his ex was everything she wasn’t. So she kept quiet and made herself be satisfied with the friendship they were developing.

“The other two are Ron, he’s an Anaesthetist, like Clara and Sadie. And, finally there’s Maisie, she’s a Neonatologist, she specialises in premature and newborn babies.”

“Do I need to remember all their names?” Frost asked.

“Nope,” Hel replied. “Please do try and remember mine though. It will be very embarrassing if you forget.”

“I won’t ever forget your name.” His voice was soft, and Hel wished she wasn’t driving and could look across to see the expression on his face.

His words sounded so intimate. Maybe he was feeling something like her? She dismissed the errant thought when the images of Star popped into her head. And she would never admit this, but she had Googled him and his ex-girlfriends. The girls all had a few things in common. They were stunningly beautiful. They were petite. They were impeccably made up. And they all had jobs like models, influencers, and PR consultants.

None of them were Emergency doctors who got more meals than they should from a vending machine. They all looked like they had nutritionists and did Pilates and yoga every day.

Which reminded her, she needed to call Ken and do a lesson with him. She had missed her last two weeks with the upheaval of the fire.

Hel chose to ignore the potential implications and grumbled, “It is very unforgettable. I swear my parents thought they’d given birth to a ninety-year-old instead of a baby when they chose the name.”

“It’s well, it’s…” Frost stumbled over his words.

“Yeah. It’s something,” Hel said dryly and indicated to pull her car into the parking space.

They now had getting out of the car down to a fine art, and Hel walked around to the back, grabbed the crutches out of the boot and went to his door to open it and make sure he got out okay.

“I feel like an old man with you fussing over me,” Frost grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet.

“Quit complaining. “ Hel passed him the crutches and put a hand on his arm to make sure he was steady before she stepped back, even as a part of her wished she could stay holding onto him. “If you didn’t act like an old man, I wouldn’t treat you like one.” she added cheekily, grinning.

“Hey. Ethel. That’s not nice!” Frost fired back.

“Nope. I warned you, kneecaps,” Hel threatened.

Frost chuckled. “Just make sure you pick my bad leg to kneecap. I need one good one left.”

“No, that’s no fun. If I pick the bad one, you’ll always walk around in circles. If I take out your good leg, at least I’ve evened you up,” Hel said very seriously.

“You are ruthless.” Frost got to the door first and attempted to juggle his crutches so he could hold it open for her.

“Really?” Hel stood watching him. “Come on, old man, move out of the way and let me do it.”

Frost sighed in irritation. “This having no arms thing is bloody annoying. Why can’t I get a walking cast?”

Hel rolled her eyes. She had explained a couple of times to him. “Because the tibia snapped in two, and you need to let it heal before you put two hundred kilograms of weight on it.”

Frost squawked a very unmanly noise and turned to face her. “You think I weigh two hundred kilograms.”

Hel snickered when he attempted to suck in his already flat stomach. “No. But it was worth saying to hear you make that noise.” She grinned and leaned past him to grab the door.

“It was a very manly noise.” Frost huffed.

Hel smirked. “Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, big guy.” Even at five foot eight, Frost towered over her.

“Manly, “ he repeated.

“Like a male chicken,” Hel shot back, her eyes dancing with glee as they met his.

They stood in the doorway staring at each other for far too long before Hel remembered where they were and the fact they had an audience. She tore her gaze away from him when someone in the pub yelled, “Wooooooooooooo.”

Peering around, she spotted her friends. Gloria had her fingers in her mouth poised to do a wolf whistle. Hel glared at her and was about to give her the finger when she recalled it was Taylor’s mum, so instead, she settled for sticking her tongue out at the older woman.

“Also, a word of warning. Don’t sit next to Gloria. She says whatever she’s thinking, however inappropriate. Taylor loovvveeessss it.” Hel rolled her eyes.

According to Taylor, Gloria used to be very strict and kept him on the straight and narrow when he was young, but she had clearly now decided she didn’t care anymore, and had completely disconnected her filter between her brain and mouth, which was incredibly entertaining when directed at someone else, but not so funny when you were the subject.

“That’s his mom?” Frost double-checked.

“Yeah. Come on, get your crutches into gear and let’s head over.” She waited for him to start moving before she weaved her way over to her friends.

“Hi all,” she greeted her pub quiz team and rolled her eyes when she noticed not a single one of them was looking at her, they were all staring at Frost. Huffing a sigh, she thought she should get the introduction and the accompanying comments about Frost out of the way. “This is Frost, my housemate.” She pointed at him with her thumb.

Frost nodded at them all—his hands were full, so he couldn’t wave.

Gloria was on her feet in an instant and around the table to him. Leaning forward, she put her cheek out, clearly wanting him to kiss it in greeting.

Frost’s eyes darted to Hel, who shrugged, so he smiled and bent down, giving Gloria a kiss on her cheek.

Gloria caught his face in her hands while he was bent toward her. “Frost. It’s wonderful to meet you in person. I’ve watched a lot of your games, and I have to say, young man, if I were twenty years younger, I’d be chasing you like a puck bunny.” She let the words hang in the air and then pulled back, running her hands down his biceps where they were flexed as he leaned on the crutches.

Hel stifled a laugh. She loved Gloria. She was hysterical.

Taylor, however, was not loving it and groaned from his position next to Clara, who had a hand across her mouth, her grin visible around her fingers. “Mom, no. No. No. Sit down. Please sit down.”

Gloria didn’t move and kept smiling up at Frost, stroking his arms.

When it didn’t look like Gloria was going to unhand the man she had a crush on, Hel stepped around the pair of them and pulled out a chair. “Here, Frost, you shouldn’t stand up for too long with your leg.”

“Thanks,” Frost said, gently trying to make Gloria let go of him, but she obviously wasn’t going to without a bit of persuasion.

After another beat of awkward silence, Hel said, “Gloria, stop groping the only single man at the table. At least give us younger single ladies a chance first.”

And now those words were out, she couldn’t take them back. She made herself sound like she was trying to lay claim to Frost. Which she wasn’t. Or clearing the way for any of the other women to try. Which she definitely wasn’t.

She relived the feeling of his lips brushing over hers more often than she would like to admit, and while she sometimes wished he would remember it too and maybe want to do it again—but with less drugs this time. Actually, no drugs—she also knew it was for the best that he didn’t, and they didn’t. Even so, her eyes strayed to his lips as they did so often.

Hel forced her gaze back up to his eyes. He was staring at her. An unreadable look on his face. The world around them receded. The chatter. The fact a movie star’s mum was touching his biceps. For a few breathy moments, there was only the two of them.

The corner of his lip quirked up in the barest of smiles. And then reality crashed into her in the form of a napkin chucked at her face. Hel’s head whipped away from Frost, and she glared at the table to see which of her so-called friends had thrown the missile, which, from the sticky feeling on her face, likely had tomato sauce on it.

Gloria stepped away from Frost and winked at Hel before she sashayed back to her place next to Clara.

Hel glared at all her friends. “Real mature!” She exclaimed as she peeled the napkin off her face.

Clara immediately lifted her hand and pointed at Sadie, who was so red in the face from holding in laughter that she looked like she might burst at any second.

“Sadie Gwendoline Albright,” Hel sputtered. “Why did you feel the need to throw your manky rubbish at me?” She glared at Sadie, who was trying and failing dismally to look innocent.

“That’s not my middle name!” Sadie replied.

Hel rolled her eyes. “I don’t care! Why am I now wearing your leftover dinner smeared on my face?”

She would usually have joined her friends for dinner, but when she had arrived home from work, Frost laid a plate of food in front of her, and all thoughts of pub food were forgotten.

“It looks nice. It looks like that new Dior blush Taylor bought Clara,” Sadie chortled.

“He didn’t buy it,” Clara piped up. “They gave it to him, as he’s going to be the face of their new man perfume.”

“Man perfume?” Hel snorted.

“She’s trying to say aftershave,” Taylor supplied dryly.

“That’s the one!” Clara exclaimed happily, bouncing on her seat.

Sadie’s head swung around to Taylor, and she began to grill him. “Tell me about this advert. Will you be riding a horse?”

“No.” Taylor shook his head.

Hel leaned across to whisper to Frost, “We should sit down. This interrogation will go on for quite some time.” She pulled the chair out for him and got him settled before she squeezed in next to him.

“Will it be moody and black and white?” Sadie asked.

“Probably.” Taylor shrugged.

“Here, let me get that.” Frost reached across the table and grabbed a clean napkin.

Hel’s head swung from watching her friends to Frost. She was puzzled for a moment then she recalled the tomato sauce smeared on her cheek. Before she had time to answer, he reached for her face and was gently wiping at the mess, his fingers brushing her cheek so softly it was barely perceptible. But even that light touch sent goosebumps racing across her skin.

“Thanks.” Hel blushed and dropped her eyes, unsure if she wanted to see what was written in Frost’s green ones.

“Are you taking your shirt off?” Sadie asked.

“Sadie Gwendoline Albright!” Clara exclaimed.

“That’s not my name,” Sadie protested again. “Anyway, we’ve all seen him shirtless already. I watched Superman.” She waggled her eyebrows.

“I know, and I don’t care. Stop trying to make my fiancée take his shirt off again. Get your phone out and look at your pictures of George,” Clara admonished her friend.

Hel’s eyes shot up to Frost when he barked with laughter, and she explained. “This is pretty normal for them. Sadie gets a little over-enthusiastic sometimes and has to be reminded to look at photos of her husband, who, by the way, is fantastic and, despite the slightly pervy questions, she is madly in love with.”

“She’s something alright.” Frost shook his head.

“You would never believe that in work, she is totally straight-laced and the head of the anaesthetic department. As out of work, she’s a menace,” Hel said the last bit loud enough for it to carry across the table to Sadie.

“I heard that!” Sadie called back.

“You were meant to,” Hel said and rolled her eyes.

“Taylor agreed because of the makeup,” Clara explained.

Hel tuned back into the conversation, as surely she had missed something. “Taylor’s modelling makeup?”

Taylor chuckled at this. “No. Dior agreed to send their makeup artists to the wedding for Clara, you bridesmaids and any women who want their makeup done. They’ve been asking me for years to be a brand ambassador, and when they put that on the table, I figured, why not.”

“And they’re making my dress,” Clara said shyly.

“I’m sorry. What now?” Sadie’s head shot up from her phone. “Did you say Dior is making your dress? And I don’t know this why? As your best friend, this sounds like something I should know.”

Taylor answered for Clara. “I only finalised the deal today. I didn’t think it would be possible for them to make a dress in the timeframe we have, so I didn’t say anything to Clara. But it turns out they really wanted me to say yes, so they’re making it happen.”

Taylor had proposed to Clara after the Oscars in March, and they were planning an Australian spring wedding, which didn’t leave them much time.

Clara bounced up and down in her seat in excitement. “Yup.”

“That’s amazing,” Hel said enthusiastically. She was delighted for her friend.

“And they’re making dresses for my two lovely bridesmaids.” Clara clapped her hands together.

“What?” Hel blinked and blinked again.

The bridesmaids were her and Sadie. The nicest dress she had ever bought was from David Jones, and she was sure Clara just said she would be given a made-for-her designer dress.

“Yeah. I wanted to see your face when I told you. Oh, hang on.” Clara grabbed her phone off the table and snapped pictures of Hel and Sadie, who both had very similar expressions of surprise on their faces. She passed it across. “Here, have a look.”

Hel broke her stupor to take the phone. She frowned. She looked like a surprised fish. Freezing, she felt the warm heat of Frost as he leaned across so he could look as well. When she didn’t move to the photo of Sadie, he leaned even further in and swiped across for it. When his fingers grazed hers, she got even more flustered.

Frost only had to be near her, and she could feel his proximity. This was not happening. He was leaving. It was only a few months until the end of the season, and then he would be out of her life. She needed to pull herself together.

Hel’s eyes focused on the photo of Sadie, and she smirked. Her friend had been caught mid-cheer and had her mouth wide open, with something that looked very like a partially chewed bit of burger visible.

Thrusting the phone to Sadie, she sniggered. “For once, I come off better than you in the terrible photo wars.”

Sadie snatched the phone, peering at the screen. “Clara, that’s awful. Why would you do that?” She picked a fry up off her plate and threw it at Clara, hitting her friend between the eyes.

Sadie laughed in delight at her shot, and Hel joined in.

“Hey,” Clara exclaimed.

“You deserved it! We both look ridiculous in those photos,” Hel admonished her friend.

“You do.” Clara chortled. “Although you’re getting designer dresses made for you, which is probably worth one bad photo each.”

Hel and Sadie glanced at each other, the anaesthetist speaking first. “It is.”

“Fine,” Hel conceded. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frost’s shoulders shuddering as he contained his laughter.