Page 25

CHAPTER 25

HEL

H el stood in front of the microwave, waiting for the popcorn to cook. She had gone to the shops as soon as she woke after persuading Frost that this morning was all about junk food and to stop trying to make them a healthy breakfast.

Hel treated the junk food aisles like she was a kid in a candy store and bought far more than a normal person could eat in a day without vomiting. She tried to balance it out by buying them a salad for lunch and some salmon for dinner, so at least they had some healthy food in the mix.

“Is that the butter or the sweet?” Frost hopped over and stood behind her, peering into the microwave too.

Hel’s breath hitched. He was so close to her that she felt the heat radiating off his body. If she moved back a little, she could lean into his chest. Feel the planes of his muscles against her back. Maybe he would put his arms around her, and she could run her hands along his biceps—that she tried not to constantly watch as they tensed and relaxed under his shirt when he used his crutches. She wondered what it would be like to be in his warm embrace.

But she didn’t move as he was leaving so soon, and she was looking for long-term, not something that would be gone in a few weeks, leaving her shattered.

Anyway, it didn’t matter, as Frost dated women like Star. Twenty-five and well-groomed. Someone who would look amazing on his arm when he attended events.

“Butter.” Her voice sounded breathy to her own ears when she replied. “The sweet is in the bowl.”

She debated when she was at the shop only getting the butter like she said the day before, but had caved and bought both.

“Excellent.” He leaned closer as the kernels began to pop.

Hel’s breath stuttered. This was not good at all, although a small part of her mind told her how very good indeed it actually was.

“I was a little baffled when you tried to limit our popcorn choice,” Frost said, which made his chest move and brush over her back.

“Yeah,” Hel squeaked. Pull it together. Pull it together. But her internal pep talk didn’t slow her heart rate.

She was disappointed when the microwave pinged, and he stepped back to let her get the food out. Berating herself for getting caught up in thoughts, which were only going to lead to her getting disappointed.

She didn’t look at him as she took the pack of popcorn out of the microwave and poured it into the bowl sitting ready on the counter.

“Right. Get your giant self out of my way and into the living room.” She made shooing gestures at Frost, who still stood in the kitchen, watching her.

“Is your eye sore?” He asked sympathetically.

Hel’s hand shot to her eye, which was a lovely shade of purple thanks to her patient. “Yeah, a bit.”

“Sorry I wasn’t quicker.” Frost apologised.

“It wasn’t your fault. It’s a hazard of the job, unfortunately.” It wasn’t the first time a patient had managed to land a blow on her.

“If I hadn’t been sick, I would have got there in time,” Frost said.

“If you hadn’t been sick, you wouldn’t have been there at all, and it could have been worse without you.” Hel was grateful that Frost had dealt with her assailant so swiftly, as it always took a couple of minutes for security to arrive. “Anyway, let’s not talk about that, let’s watch movies!” She pointed toward the living room.

“Shall I grab drinks?” Frost asked.

“With what hands are you going to carry them?” Hel waved at the crutches he was using for balance.

“Fair point. I’ll go and sit down.” He began to hop away.

“I want the right side of the sofa!” Hel yelled after him as she picked up a bowl in each hand and wedged two cans of lemonade in the pocket of her sweatshirt.

Well, she should say Frost’s sweatshirt. She was very lacking in lounging clothes after the fire and had been moaning to him about it as she had lost her absolute favourite hoody, which was cosy and big enough that she could pull both her arms inside it if she wanted to.

Frost had told her to wait a minute, then hopped upstairs and came back down with the sweatshirt she was currently wearing. She tried to refuse it, but he insisted she take it, stating he got it free from the Vancouver Vultures when he played for them. It even had his name embroidered on the back.

When she put it on, she hadn’t been able to stop herself from sniffing the collar. It smelt like Frost, and it swamped her, making it the ideal comfy, television-watching sweatshirt.

“You snooze, you lose,” Frost called back.

“Fine, I’m picking the first movie. I hope you’re ready for a rom-com,” Hel shouted through the door as she walked carefully, trying not to spill the overfull bowls of popcorn.

“Finnneeeeeee. You have the right side,” Frost grumbled and shuffled across.

Hel placed the two bowls onto a tray in the middle of the sofa and sat down, grinning triumphantly as she snatched the remote off the floor.

“By the way. I’ve got the remote. Soooooooo, Rom-com? We should watch Notting Hill.”

“Nope!” Frost answered and grabbed a bit of popcorn, chucking it at her.

“What do you want then?” Hel leaned forward.

“It looks good on you,” Frost said quietly.

Hel glanced across at him. “What?”

He was staring at the back of her sweatshirt. She wasn’t sure how he could say the hoodie looked good on her, it was a million sizes too big and built for comfort, not fashion.

Frost cleared his throat. “Sorry?”

Hel sat back and looked at him quizzically. “You said it looks good on me?”

“Oh, yeah. Well.” Frost flushed bright red.

Hel’s mind whirled. All she could think was that he was looking at his name on her back, and he liked it. No, that was totally not what he meant. He must have meant she looked cosy. Yeah, that was it.

She changed the subject. “What shall we watch then? Notting Hill?”

Frost admitted he had never seen it before, and after a few minutes of debate with Hel pointing out, forcefully, many times that it was a classic and he needed to watch it, he huffed and agreed.

“What did you think?” Hel asked as the final credits rolled.

“It was okay,” Frost muttered gruffly.

“Okay! You just watched one of the classic rom-coms, and it was only okay!” Hel exclaimed.

“It was better than I expected,” Frost amended.

“And?” Hel glared at him.

Frost swivelled in his seat, a serious expression on his face. “What I’m about to say cannot be repeated to anyone who plays hockey, coaches hockey, or is basically anyone else but you.”

Hel crossed her heart.

Frost took a big breath before he finally said, “It was a great movie. I’m glad you made me watch it. I enjoyed it.”

Hel leapt to her feet and took a bow. “Thank you for acknowledging my superior movie selecting ability. I assume that means I get to pick for the rest of the day?” She threw him a cheeky grin before she retook her seat, crossing her legs up and turning to face him.

“Not a chance!” Frost exclaimed.

“You know, that movie now makes me think of Clara and Taylor. Movie star, normal girl, and they couldn’t be happier.” Hel stared wistfully at the screen.

“Yeah. They do seem really happy.”

“They are. Disgustingly happy,” Hel grumbled and rolled her eyes. “If I have to see them stare into each other’s eyes or kiss one more time, I might be sick.”

“Not a big fan of the public displays of affection?”

Hel made a vomiting noise. “Not so much.”

But she added internally that she wasn’t a fan of other people’s public displays of affection. If she got to kiss Frost, now that—she pulled her brain up, that was something she couldn’t think about, especially not when he was one metre away from her.

“Did you find a date for their wedding?” Frost enquired.

“No.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll be on bridesmaid duties.” She wanted the words to come out, ‘Do you want to go with me?’ But instead, she smiled brightly and said, “I don’t mind.”

“You’ll be single as a pringle,” Frost supplied.

Hel froze. Oh my god. Had he quoted one of her worst ‘dad lines’ back to her? Surely he didn’t remember her saying that? But it was such a disastrous thing to say, he obviously did.

“Indeed. As a pringle.” Hel worked hard to control the flush that wanted to spread up her cheeks. “Anyway, what shall we watch next? I suppose I’ll let you choose,” she said magnanimously and presented him with the remote control.

As he took it off her, his fingers brushed over hers, and an electric spark rippled up her arm, but he didn’t seem to notice anything as he snatched the remote.

“Are you ready for some action?” Frost cheered.

Hel’s mind went to a different place than the one he was implying, so instead of answering, as she thought her voice might crack, she just groaned.

“No complaining. I watched Notting Hill!” Frost exclaimed as he scrolled through shows on Netflix.

“And you said you liked it!” Hel fired back.

“No comment.” Frost laughed.

“You literally said you did, so no comment means yes.”

“If you tell any of my teammates, I will deny it completely.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Fair.” Hel nodded in agreement.

“Right. This is the next movie we’re going to watch.”

Hel groaned when an image of an actor holding a gun and looking brooding filled the screen. “Why?”

“Shhhhh. The movie’s starting.” Frost ignored her grumbling and turned the movie up.

“You’re annoying!” Hel reached over and poked him in the ribs, not anticipating how quick his reflexes would be, as he caught hold of her hand before she could get it back over the popcorn bowl.

She was stuck leaning over toward him, unable to free her hand and unable to move too much as it would spill all the popcorn.

Her gaze shot to his, and their eyes held for one heartbeat, then two, then what felt like an eternity. She didn’t want to look away. She wanted to examine his eyes for every fleck and flaw in the vivid green irises staring back at her.

“Hi,” Frost whispered.

When he spoke, her gaze dropped to his lips, and she had to force herself to look back at his eyes.

“Hi,” she murmured back.

He tugged on her hand, pulling her more towards him.

“The popcorn,” she protested.

“I don’t care.” He pulled a little harder.

Hel’s pulse hammered in her ears. What was happening? Okay, she wasn’t daft. She knew exactly what was happening. But with Frost! Did she want this? Dumb question, she desperately wanted this. Was it a good idea? Absolutely not. They had so many reasons not to do this. They lived together. He was gorgeous, he was kind, he made her laugh until she cried, and his tattoos made her want to examine every centimetre of him. She wanted to—No, that wasn’t a reason not to do this.

Frost’s eyes searched between hers and dipped to her lips, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Hel’s breath caught in her throat as he pulled her closer again, and his other hand reached up and tugged on one of her wild curls.

“Your hair is amazing.” He pulled it until the spirals were gone and then let it go, smiling when it bounced back to its original curly form.

“I love it now. I wasn’t so keen on it when I was being teased mercilessly at school and being called ‘Ranga’.”

“Ranga?” Frost whispered, his thumb running over her palm.

“Short for orangutan because they’re orange.” Hel felt his fingers tangle in her hair, and every teasing word, every mean comment flew out of her memory to be replaced by this moment, this man, appreciating her hair.

Frost didn’t say anything else. Instead, he wound some of the hair around his hand, using it to tug her closer. His breath whispered over her lips, and her eyes fluttered shut. They were only millimetres apart.

Hel knew all the reasons she shouldn’t kiss him, but at this moment, she didn’t care. Even with her eyes closed, she knew his lips were about to touch hers. This was it. This was happening.

A hand slammed into the front door, banging hard and repeatedly.

Hel jolted back from Frost, her cheeks flushed.

“I—“ Frost began to speak but was interrupted by more banging on the door.

“Frost. Hey Frost. You in there?” A voice called through the door.

Hel took a deep breath, then another and another, before she extracted her hand gently from his. She tried to move away from him, but his hand was still tangled in her hair.

“Hel.” Frost’s voice held a hint of desperation.

She smiled sadly and shook her head. The moment, that moment where her head was spinning, and she couldn’t think of a good reason not to kiss him, was gone, and all she could think of were the reasons not to kiss him. The main one being he was leaving soon, and then she would be alone again. But this time, with a piece of her heart missing, as she would willingly hand it to Frost, and when he left, she would never get it back.

“Frost,” she replied, and when she looked into his eyes this time, she saw sadness too, as if he realised the same thing she did.

He freed his fingers from her hair, and she sat back down on her side of the sofa. Hel touched her lips and, for a moment, let herself recall the one time he kissed her, before she remembered their unwanted visitor who was still knocking and calling through the door.

“Hold on,” Hel shouted and jumped to her feet, heading for the door. She risked a glance over her shoulder at Frost, who was staring back with melancholy staining his face.

Clearing her throat, she pulled the door open. Aiden stood on the doorstep with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other.

“Hi, Aiden,” Hel said. Genuinely delighted to see the young man and maybe a little relieved he had interrupted something that definitely shouldn’t have happened. She ignored the little voice in her head that piped up it wasn’t relieved, and she should have been on the sofa in Frost’s arms at this very moment, not standing in the door with a young man who bore a close resemblance to a large golden retriever as he bounced around gleefully.

“Hi, Hel.” Aiden waved his full hands enthusiastically at her. “Is Frost here?”

“Yeah. He’s here.” Hel pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Frost, who was now scowling at the younger man. “You know if the wind changes, your face will stay like that,” Hel teased.

“Yeah,” Frost growled before he cleared his throat and got his manners back. “Come on in, Aiden. We were about to watch a movie. Do you want to join us?”

“Really?” Aiden’s eyes lit up, and he bounced in the doorway. “Claudia’s taken Ava to see her parents, and I’ve got the day off work. I thought it would be amazing, but I spent the last three hours alone and got bored, so I figured you’d be home Frost, so I should come and see you. And here I am!” Aiden said excitedly.

“And here you are,” Frost repeated.

Hel glanced at him sharply, having heard the slight bite to his voice, and Frost shrugged at her apologetically. Shaking her head, she stepped aside to let Aiden in, gesturing for him to walk ahead of her so she could shut the door.

“I’m not drinking at the moment, Aiden,” Frost said.

Aiden looked baffled, then glanced down at the bottle of champagne in his hand. “Oh, no, that’s for Hel. Claudia thought you would like it. It’s a small thank you from us.” He held the bottle out to Hel.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to.” She took the bottle, feeling slightly embarrassed about the gift.

“Yeah, we did. Oh, and the chocolates are for you too.” He pushed them at her.

“Thanks.” Hel took the box as well.

“They’re my favourites,” Aiden added.

Hel raised an eyebrow at the young man, who had a very hopeful expression on his face. “Shall we open them now?”

“That sounds great.” Aiden grinned and bounded over to the sofa. Picking the popcorn bowl up from the centre, he plopped himself down. Pushing his shoes off, he put his feet up on the footstool and relaxed.

Hel suppressed the ironic smile that rose. She didn’t need to be worried about keeping her hands to herself, they now had a very large chaperone between them.

As she sat down, she caught Frost’s eyes and their gazes held until Aiden declared loudly. “What are we watching?”

The three of them sat on the sofa for the rest of the day watching a movie marathon, and by the evening, Hel had spent more time thinking about the situation with Frost than watching what was on the screen. And she came to only one conclusion: she needed to protect her heart now. She couldn’t put herself in any more situations where temptation might arise, so even though they lived together, she needed to start avoiding Frost.