Page 38

CHAPTER 38

FROST

“H el,” Frost tugged on her hand, so she stopped.

“What?” She looked up at him quizzically.

“I love you.” He grinned broadly. He wasn’t going to get sick of saying that to her.

Hel stared at him for a beat, then leaned forward and stood up on her tiptoes. “Right back at you, big guy.”

His arm circled her waist, and he pulled her flush against his body. “We could skip the pub,” he said hopefully.

“We’re not skipping the pub. This is your night. They’re all here to see you.” Hel placed a chaste kiss on his lips and pulled back, staring into his eyes. “I will never get sick of that.”

“Me either.” He leaned forward in an attempt to deepen the kiss, but Hel slipped out of his grip, skipping backwards.

“Come back here,” he growled.

Hel evaded him, and she subtly indicated to a mum with two young kids who was frowning at them.

Frost’s eyes swung to them, and he nodded. Taking hold of her hand, he lifted it to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.

For a moment, he wondered what his kids with Hel would look like. There was no doubt in his mind, she was his person. The one he would spend the rest of his life with and wanted a family with.

He didn’t say anything, not wanting to scare Hel off by moving at a million kilometres an hour when they had only been together for an hour. Which he had to admit, so far, was the best hour of his life.

Now he stood in Australia, holding hands with the woman he loved, he couldn’t work out why it seemed like such a difficult decision to make.

Hockey had been his whole life, and coaching the Vultures was the same. He needed balance. And now, with the Wombats, hockey would be part of his life, not his whole life.

Hel tugged on his hand to get him moving again. “Do you have a hire car?”

“Nope,” he replied.

He had literally got in a taxi with a backpack and headed straight for the cinema. The rest of his things were being shipped over.

“Shit,” Frost swore.

His backpack. Where the hell had he put it? He was so flustered when he arrived, waiting to see Hel he couldn’t remember. It probably would have been better in hindsight to phone her and discuss him coming to Australia and ask if she wanted the same as him. But every time he got close to dialling her number, he couldn’t do it. Paralysed with fear that she would tell him not to come.

For some reason, it seemed easier to uproot his whole life rather than make a simple phone call.

“What’s shit?” Hel enquired.

“I left my bag somewhere, and I have no recollection of where!”

“Do you need clothes?” Hel wiggled her eyebrows and giggled.

“Nope.” He dragged her toward the door, then stopped and swore again. “Shit, but I do need my wallet as I’m paying for dinner at the pub. Right, I went to the staff room to hide while you guys all arrived.”

“Maybe you left it there?” Hel suggested.

Frost’s eyes lit up. “That’s it. I must have done. Hang on a minute.” He bounded off to the payment desk. “Hi, Jack. Did I leave my bag?”

“You did, mate.” Jack, who worked in the cinema, nodded, then asked, “You found the cleaning cupboard alright?”

Frost felt a blush rising up his cheeks as he muttered, “Yes, thanks.”

He glanced across at Hel, who was barely containing her laughter.

“I’ll grab your bag, mate,” Jack said and walked away.

Hel leaned into Frost, murmuring, “Did you scout out somewhere we could make out before you came into the cinema?”

“Maybe.” Frost looked straight ahead.

“Genius,” Hel whispered.

A snort of laughter escaped him when she said that. It had seemed a little presumptuous when he asked, but with the way he felt about the woman he stood with, it had also felt very necessary.

“We can still skip the pub,” he suggested, an eyebrow raised hopefully.

“We can’t skip the pub,” Hel said gently.

Frost huffed, “Fine.”

“Here’s your bag.” Jack thrust it over the counter to him.

“Thanks.” He took it in his free hand and swung it up onto his shoulder.

When they walked into the pub, a round of applause and catcalls greeted them. Abbey and Claudia dashed over to Hel, attempting to persuade Hel to come and sit with them.

“Not a chance,” Frost said, shaking his head.

Hel grinned up at him and snuggled herself closer to his side. She clearly had no intention of going anywhere either.

“Finally. Now I can do my speech,” Coach Morgan announced.

A ripple of groans spread around the team.

Coach Morgan’s glare silenced them all. “I’ve put up with your nonsense for many seasons. You can listen to me for five minutes.” He pulled a few crumpled sheets of paper out of his pocket.

“I’ll sort out a round of drinks first,” Frost offered, leading to a resounding cheer from the table.

Hel accompanied him to the bar to help, and he didn’t even try to object, not wanting her to leave his side.

“How long do we have to stay?” Frost leaned into Hel and asked quietly.

She smirked in return, replying, “More than ten minutes.”

Frost grumbled. He really wanted to leave. “Fine. We’ll eat and head out.” His stomach let out a loud groan to emphasise his words.

“Good plan.”

“Do you want a drink?” Frost questioned. “I can drive us home.”

“Home?” Hel asked.

Frost shrugged. He had already laid all his cards on the table, so he said, “Yeah, Wherever you are, that’s my home.”

Hel’s wide eyes turned to him, and for a moment, he thought he had freaked her out, until her hands shot up to his neck, and she tugged him down to kiss her.

He would have stood there all night, oblivious to the people around them, but some cheering finally broke through his haze, and he pulled away from her, rotating his head to look at the hockey table. Every single one of them was staring at him and Hel, and all were cheering and clapping. Even Coach Morgan had a satisfied smile on his face.

“Go, Coach Frost,” Rocky called out. “You should get—“

Whatever he was about to say was cut off when Abbey elbowed him in the ribs and shook her head.

Hel began to giggle, her eyes sparkling as they met his. He dropped one last kiss to her lips and pulled back.

“I now understand Clara constantly kissing in public,” Hel murmured.

“Yeah?” Frost asked.

“I really don’t care if anyone sees us kissing,” Hel declared. “I always thought she was an exhibitionist.”

“So not an exhibitionist?”

“No, she’s just in love.”

“In love?” Frost echoed.

“Yeah. Just like I am. I love you.” Hel stared into his eyes as she spoke, and he could see the depth of his feelings for her reflected in them.

“I love you.” He would have leaned down to kiss her again, but a wolf whistle from Rocky interrupted him.

The young man was waving his pint glass in the air and pointing at it.

“I should order the drinks.” Frost leaned onto the bar and got the attention of the bartender.