Page 104 of Doc Defence

“Good.” Frost leaned forward and handed her a bucket of popcorn. “I—“

Coach Morgan cut him off by bellowing from the front. “They’re starting the documentary. Sit down and shut up.”

Hel and Frost stared into each other’s eyes, and she whispered, “Have you seen it yet?”

“Bits of it. I haven’t seen the whole thing. I watched—“

“Frost. This might be all about you, but that doesn’t exclude you from the no-talking,” Coach Morgan yelled.

Hel stifled a giggle. This was a man who took his cinema experience very seriously. She picked up some popcorn and shoved it into her mouth, trying to concentrate on something other than Frost sitting next to her and him asking if she was single.

She jumped when he plucked her bucket of popcorn out of her hand and shoved it into the drink holder of her seat, then he grabbed hold of her now free hand, lacing their fingers together. Her head swivelled to face him, but he merely looked straight ahead, smiling broadly.

Hel tried to concentrate on the screen in front of her, which was tough when the man they were interviewing and showing playing was sitting next to her, holding her hand.

She leaned forward when his family appeared on screen. He looked like his dad, but his eyes were all his mums. When it showed his siblings it was easy to see they were all related.

When the documentary moved with him to Australia and began showing the players who were sitting in the room, a resounding cheer rang through the theatre. Coach Morgan shushed them all as they chatted excitedly to each other. Yup, he was definitely a man who took his movies seriously.

Hel was laughing at something Rocky had said to the camera when her face appeared on the screen. She was standing watching the players like a hawk, then she grabbed the medical bag, rushed to snatch up the defib and sprinted for the ice.

Luckily, the camera hadn’t been at the right angle to see her fall and smash her head, although it had been very well placed to see Frost scoop her up into his arms and skate her across the ice.

Unfortunately for Hel, the dazed expression she had on her face as she looked up at him was very easy to mistake for infatuation, which she hadn’t been then, but she definitely was now.

They didn’t show anything of Aiden’s arrest, apart from him sitting up and waving to the crowd after his resuscitation.

Frost leaned over and whispered in her ear, ‘I made them get permission from Aiden to show any of that.”

She nodded, unable to speak as the feeling of his lips so close to her stole her breath. Instead, she glanced at him, smiled and squeezed his hand.

As the film continued, she felt more comfortable until the footage of the night Frost broke his leg began.

She thought the kiss they shared was private, a memory only she had. Frost didn’t remember. Coach Morgan had been out of the room. However, it turned out Greg, the cameraman, had been very good at blending into the background, and she hadn’t noticed him filming them from the corridor.

It was strange to watch herself on the screen and see the events that led up to Frost brushing his lips over hers.

Catcalls erupted around the cinema and Hel tried to sink into her seat, staring directly ahead so she didn’t have to meet Frost’s eyes.

CHAPTER 36

FROST

Hekissedher?Heclosed his eyes, desperately trying to remember. He recalled being high as a kite and being a total pain. But kissing her? Surely he would remember that? Well, he obviously didn’t, as it was right there on the screen. The thing he had wanted to do for so long and clearly already had.

Hel shifted in her seat, and his eyes swung over to her, but she resolutely didn’t look at him. The rest of the team though, were having a ball, whooping and cheering. Even Coach Morgan couldn’t settle them down again.

Frost wanted to drag her out of the cinema and go somewhere private to talk. Okay, he was kidding himself. He wanted to kiss her. A kiss this time that he would remember.

But now he was Coach of the team, he needed to set an example to the players, and him leaping up and dragging Hel out of the room after their first kiss—shit, he hated that he didn’t remember their first kiss—had been shown to the whole world, wasn’t really setting a ‘wholesome’ example.

Squeezing Hel’s hand, he stared at her, willing her to look over at him, but even as silence returned to the cinema, she didn’t. Eventually, he did the only thing he could think of. He let go of her hand, which got a response out of her, and she spun to look at him with a surprised and maybe hurt expression on her face.

But he wouldn’t be deterred. He lifted the armrest separating them, put his arm around her shoulder and tugged her until she was flush against his side.

Hel squeaked in surprise and was initially stiff in his arms, but she quickly relaxed into him and lifted her hand up, threading her fingers through his. Leaning in, he rested his cheek against her hair, marvelling at how right it felt.

It seemed like forever until the end of the documentary. The bit he wanted Hel to see.

---