Page 29

CHAPTER 29

FROST

F rost stood in front of the team in the locker room before the last game of the season. Coach Morgan—or Dan as he tried to insist Frost call him—had entrusted Frost to give the motivational speech to the players.

He managed to keep his mind on the game, but his eyes, without his permission, kept drifting to the red hair of Hel as she stood in the corner out of the way.

She looked sad. Had he made her sad? He hoped he hadn’t, but at the same time, he hoped she felt a little bit of the heartache that he was. He needed to leave, his life and job were in Canada.

His head told him he couldn’t give it all up for a woman he had not long met and hadn’t even dated. Even as his heart told him, he needed to make it work, and if he walked away now, he would regret it forever.

“Boys, play your best. You are winners. You are better than them. Let’s go!” Frost finished his speech, and the team jumped to their feet, stamping and slamming their hands into their lockers.

Frost grinned. He would miss these boys, they were a good bunch. Playing hockey with a semi-professional team after so many years of it being life and death, had brought the fun back into the game for him.

Coach Morgan stepped forward and held his hands up, calling for quiet in the room. “I wanted to tell you all how proud I am to have been your coach for the last few years. And I wanted you all to be the first to know, the time has come for me to retire.”

A ripple of noise spread around the room.

“I’ve been coaching the wombats for ten years, and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

“Every minute?” Rocky called out.

“Fair point, Rocky. Sometimes, my throat hurts from having to yell at you so much.”

Laughter spread around the room, and Aiden, who was sitting next to Rocky, shoved him.

“It wounds me. But it’s true,” Rocky bellowed.

“I’ll be with you for this last game and through the off-season, but as of next year, I’ll be passing the baton to a new coach.”

“Who?” Aiden called out.

“The AIHL are looking at the moment and will let us know once they finalise the position.”

Frost was surprised by Coach Morgan’s announcement, he had seemed like a permanent fixture. Even the news didn’t stop his gaze from drifting over to Hel, and she stared back at him. He thought she would drop her eyes when he caught her gaze, but she didn’t, and he tried to convey in a look how sorry he was that things couldn’t work out between them.

Finally, she nodded once and looked away, their silent conversation and regret understood by both of them.

Frost threw himself into coaching during the game, keeping himself so busy he didn’t have time to think about Hel, well he did, but he tried to pretend to himself that he wasn’t using all his effort to actively ignore her and stay at the other end of the bench when he would much rather be standing next to her.

The game passed in a blur, and soon, the whole team were back in the locker room celebrating their victory.

Frost tried to stay away from Hel, but it was like he was caught in her gravitational pull, and he found himself standing close by while she chatted with Aiden and Rocky.

“Are you coming to the pub tonight?” Aiden asked her, making Frost’s ears prick up.

“No. I’ve got some things on tonight.” Hel shook her head, and Frost deflated a little. He didn’t know why he was doing this to himself, she had already told him goodbye.

“Nope. Things are not a good excuse. This is our last game, and you saved this man’s life.” Rocky hit Aiden in the chest to emphasise his point.

Aiden raised his eyebrows at his teammate. “I literally died from a blow to the chest. Why would you hit me there?”

“Sorry, man. I forgot.” Rocky hung his head.

“Well, don’t do it again!” he punctuated each of his words with a thump to Rocky’s arm. “It was hard enough to get my head around playing again without my teammates trying to repeat my death.”

“Yeah. Sorry man. I’m impressed you got back on the ice.” Rocky slung his arm around his friend’s shoulders and shook him vigorously.

Frost pulled his phone out, pretending to check it so he could keep listening to the conversation without being too obvious. He knew if he tried to join them, Hel would leave.

“Yeah.” Aiden’s voice vibrated as he was shaken. “Claudia wasn’t sure, but in the end, we decided I would finish this season. I’m not playing next year, it’s been too tough on Claudia. Every time I come to play, she’s panicking. I love the game, but I love her more, and I can’t keep doing this to her.”

Frost listened as they chatted about Aiden giving up the game for the woman he loved, and he wondered if he had been in that position, would he have made the same decision? He wasn’t sure, as he had spent so many years single-mindedly playing. Everything else around it hadn’t been important, only his job. And now, what was he left with? Old injuries that ached when it rained, and a leg the doctors told him may never completely recover and leave him with a limp.

“Anyway. You have to come to the pub. Claudia and Abbey will be there, and it’s the last chance they’ll have to hang out with you, and they’ll give me and Rocky so much hassle if you’re not there.” Aiden grinned winningly at Hel, who threw her hands up in defeat.

Frost’s heart lifted and sank at the same time. He wanted her to go even though it would be torture.

Frost bought another round of drinks for the team. A couple of the boys tried to stop him, but he waved them away and placed his black Amex behind the bar, telling them their money was no good, and he wanted to say thanks for letting him play with them for a season.

He made sure he sat on the opposite side of the table from Hel, so despite not being able to talk to her without making it awkward, at least he could still see her. Frost realised he was spending too much time staring at her as he sipped his lemonade, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from straying to her.

Watching her chat with Claudia, Abbey, Rocky, and Aiden made him feel jealous. He wanted to be part of the group, sitting with Hel.

“It didn’t work out with Hel?” Coach Morgan sat next to Frost, observing his players as they drank and celebrated.

“No. The distance ended it before it could even start.” Frost shook his head regretfully, taking another glance at Hel now that they were talking about her.

“Shame. I like her. She’s much better for you than Star.”

Frost admitted. “I wasn’t really thinking with my brain when I started dating Star.”

“You certainly weren’t,” Coach Morgan agreed dryly. “She was…” he hesitated before he finished, “interesting.”

“She was. And exhausting. I found her constant need to socialise and to be seen was fun at first. When we met, I knew my career wasn’t too far away from finishing, and I thought I would enjoy being with someone who had so much social life.”

“But you didn’t?” Coach Morgan guessed.

“No. It turns out I’m a closet homebody. I enjoy coming to the pub with my friends.” Frost gestured around the table. “I’m not here to be seen. I don’t want to go someplace because it’s new or on-trend.”

“You are turning into a grumpy old man.” Coach Morgan lifted his lemonade to Frost. “I have been there for years. It’s a great club to be in. You do what you want and stuff what anyone else thinks. Except my wife, her I listen to.” He grinned and took another sip of his drink.

“Yeah. That doesn’t sound too bad at all.” His eyes slipped to Hel again as she giggled and whispered with Abbey and Claudia.

Both women must have been ten years younger than her, not that it mattered. Hel didn’t seem to take her age or the fact she was more educated than anyone sitting at the table too seriously.

On paper, he was well educated. He went to University, as his parents insisted he had to before he tried for the NHL, but he was so focused on the game that he did the bare minimum to pass, even when his parents told him to work harder as hockey might not work out. He had been so convinced it would and twenty-year-old Jake Forster wouldn’t be told he might never make it in the NHL, that one injury could finish his career before it started.

He had been one of the lucky ones and succeeded. He had more money in the bank than he could ever spend. He had won four Stanley Cups. He had played for Canada in the Olympics during his AHL years and had a gold medal hanging in his parents’ house. His name would be remembered in ice hockey history as one of the greatest defensemen of his generation. Now, he needed to make sure his personal life matched the success of his professional one.