Page 20 of Doc Defence

FROST

Frostsaggedwithreliefwhen Hel gave them the news about Aiden, and when she stepped aside for Coach Morgan to give them their regular pre-game chat, he tried to concentrate, but instead, he spent most of the time studying Hel.

She appeared to have no problem with looking at the other players while resolutely ignoring him.

Finally, she met his gaze, and they stared at each other. He bit back a smile when he saw a faint blush rise up her cheeks, liking the effect he had on her. Maybe after the game, he could ask her out for a drink and get to know her better.

Nope, he couldn’t do that. He still hadn’t broken up with Star. In his own mind, their relationship was over, and with her being away for the week, it felt like he had already done it.

He dropped his gaze. He needed to break up with Star before he tried to get to know Hel.

“Right boys, play your best tonight.” Coach Morgan finished his speech and began banging on the door behind him.

The rest of the players soon joined in, some banging the lockers, some the benches, and others stomping. The beat got faster and faster until they finished with a resounding cheer.

Frost grabbed his stick, ready to head for the ice, and took a last look over at Hel. His shoulder slumped a little when he saw she wasn’t there anymore.

Shaking himself, he put the thoughts of the pretty red-headed doctor to the back of his mind, and his gaze fell on Greg, the cameraman, lurking in the corner like he always did. The man was excellent at his job, and most of the time, Frost totally forgot he was there, which made it likely there was now footage of him staring at Hel, when he supposedly had a girlfriend. He sighed and dropped his eyes to his stick.

As they made their way out to the ice, Greg jogged along beside him. Getting some close-up shots of him and asking a couple of simple questions, which he did every time they were about to play.

“How are your chances of winning today?” Greg asked.

“We’ll win,” Frost replied confidently.

“How do you feel about facing Jax Cooper on the ice?”

Frost hesitated for a moment. He had almost managed to forget his long-time ‘nemesis’ was playing for the opposition. Jax was an Australian player who had never forgiven him when Frost had been given what the man perceived as ‘his spot’ in the first pair while they played for the Vancouver Vultures.

Despite being teammates, Jax had never missed the opportunity to try and sabotage him. Dangerous hits, ramming and tripping him in practice, then bad-mouthing him to other members of the team and the coaching staff.

For the two years they played together, things had been ‘unpleasant’ for Frost. He had been relieved when Jax had been dropped from the team entirely and made his way back to Australia.

“I don’t feel anything about him. He was my teammate for two years. We were never friends, but you aren’t always on a team.” Frost had received extensive media training and was excellent at evading answering questions.

“There were a lot of reports about tension between you two,” Greg pushed.

“There was no tension from me,” Frost replied truthfully.

He knew exactly what Jax had been trying to do: make him retaliate, make him fail so he could take his first-pair position back. But Frost had always been single-minded and didn’t let Jax affect what he wanted to do, which was play ice hockey in the first pair in the NHL.

When they got to the boards, Frost waved to Greg and skated onto the ice. He was relieved to be leaving awkward questions behind as he flew around the rink, the place where he felt most at home. He adored the cheer of the crowd, the smell of the ice and the slick surface under his blades.

He waved his hand in acknowledgement of the crowd, who roared and stamped, filling the whole arena with a wall of sound. As he passed the team bench, he glanced over to see Hel checking through the medical bag. He stared, hoping she would look up, but she didn’t, and he skated on by.

That was the last time he was going to allow himself to look at her during the game. From now on, he would be all business.

The game was brutal from the start. The Adelaide Echidnas weren’t as skilled as the Burra Wombats, but they weren’t afraid to play dirty. Waiting for the referee to be distracted, then chopping at legs, hitting with high sticks and basically doing everything they could to upset the home team.

Jax sneered at Frost every time he came near, getting too close, shoving him, and insulting him. But Frost ignored the other player, although some of his teammates didn’t and ended up in the penalty box as Jax smirked at them.

When the second intermission came, the Wombats were winning four-two, but those four goals had been hard won. Frost’s body was tired, and he felt now at second intermission how he used to feel after full-time—not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

He perked up a little when he spotted some of the younger guys wincing in pain as they moved; it wasn’t just him who was hurting. It was a brutal game, and he guessed a lot of them were going to be black and blue the next day.

In the locker room, Hel was waiting for them, having set up a station to wrap any joints that needed extra support. He checked himself over, testing his right shoulder, which occasionally gave him problems after he dislocated it ten years ago, but it felt surprisingly good despite the aches elsewhere. So he had no reason to go and talk to her.

He sat by his locker, only glancing over once to see Rocky approach Hel, pointing at his elbow. Frost had asked the younger man what he had done, as his elbow often gave him trouble. Rocky initially told him he broke it the previous season, which made Frost assume it was during a game. The younger player later admitted he had been trying a trick on his nephew’s skateboard and fell off. This made Coach Morgan very, very unhappy, as Rocky had been out for the rest of the season.

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