Page 6 of Doc Defence

“Babe, where are you going? Call for her.” She laid her perfectly manicured hand onto his arm and tried to tug him back down to her.

Frost pulled gently out of her grip. “She’s busy, I’ll go to the bar. What do you need?”

“I need something I can post if you won’t let me take any shots of the team. I need a fancy cocktail. Umbrellas are so unfashionable, but I think I can bring them back into fashion, so get an umbrella in it. And I prefer the look of short drinks in a martini glass. And colour-wise, it needs to be pink as that’s my aesthetic today.” Star smiled beautifully up at him.

Frost didn’t complain about her ridiculous demands, as these weren’t even the longest instructions he had been given in regard to a drink. Something that would cost him thirty bucks, and she wouldn’t even take a sip of. But she would take three million photos, and it would appear heavily on her feeds. Or TikTok or live something or other. It was exhausting trying to keep up.

She used to request he follow all her accounts so people knew she had a boyfriend, but he didn’t care about social media and had no desire to use it. In the end, he handed her his phone and told her to put all the social media accounts she had onto it for him to follow. Then, each evening, he gave his phone to her, and she went through everything she posted each day and made sure he liked it and commented on it so he would appear as a doting boyfriend.

It was another thing he found adorable at first, that she cared so much about him supporting her, but now it was a bit irritating. Some of her comments from his accounts were things he would never say in a million years. But he hadn’t objected to it at first and didn’t feel like he could now.

Standing at the bar, waiting to be served, his eyes wandered around the room, and he only just stopped himself from rolling them when he saw Star had her phone out again and was taking photos of herself. She would check the image, adjust her pose, and then take another one. Finally, she landed on one she liked. She smiled triumphantly, and her fingers began to fly over her phone as she posted the picture.

He didn’t try very hard to catch the barman’s attention, instead using the time to think about things. Aiden’s episode on the ice had shown him up close how short life could be and how things could change in the blink of an eye, and he had to plan a future.

This was his last season in pro hockey, and he should have already decided if he wanted to coach after he retired from playing, as doing nothing and living off his money would drive him completely insane.

Before he could think any more about it, his attention was caught by a familiar voice next to him, and he turned slightly to better eavesdrop on the conversation of the Doc and her friend, who had walked up to the bar and were now standing right next to him.

“Bloody hell, Sadie.” The Doc’s slight Aussie twang strengthened when she swore. “My head is already pounding. And my hand hurts from cutting it on the stupid ice.” She held her hand up to her friend, showing her the bandage across her palm. “I think I’ll be here for one drink, and then I need sleep.”

Frost glanced at them out of the corner of his eyes, so the friend was Sadie. If only he could remember what the hell the Doc’s name was. Maybe it was Mabel. Nope, that didn’t sound right.

He used the time to observe the Doc. She was about five foot eight, and she had a messy shock of curly red hair, which looked like she had been running her hands through it. She couldn’t have much makeup on, as there was a smattering of freckles visible across her nose. And her hazel eyes, while tired, were full of life.

He knew Star would say Doc’s hair was frizzy, then try and inform the Doc of all the hair care products she would need to tame it, and would probably make some bitchy comment that she was shocked someone of the Doc’s age wouldn’t know how to do her hair.

He had a bizarre urge to reach out and touch the messy curls but forced himself to remain still, as doing something like that would make him a serious creeper.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised. That’s what happens when you smack your head on the ice. But after your heroic efforts tonight, Ethel, I insist you have one drink.” Sadie gestured to the bartender who was heading their way.

Frost knew he should make more of an effort to get Star her drink, but he found he was more interested in standing and listening to the conversation next to him.

Hang on a moment. Did Sadie say the Doc’s name was Ethel? And was that a growling sound coming from the Doc—aka Ethel.

“Call me Ethel again, and I’m declaring it a night now, and you’ll have to go home and do bedtime,” Doc threatened.

Right, so her name wasn’t Ethel? Was it a nickname?

“Oh god, bloody bedtime. I love my kids, but why does bedtime have to happen every night?” Sadie complained.

The barman made eye contact with Frost, but he shook his head and gestured for him to serve the women first.

“Ladies. What can I get you to drink?” The bartender interrupted Sadie’s ongoing lament about bedtime.

“Can we grab a bottle of the house pinot grigio, please,” Sadie asked. When the barman turned away, she looked over at Doc. “Ha, no bedtime for me. I got a bottle, so you have to stay.”

“You are very devious,” Doc grumbled.

“I know,” Sadie crowed.

“I’m sorry, ladies.” The bartender was back. “We’ve run out of the pinot grigio in this fridge. I’ll need to go out the back and grab some, which will take me a few minutes. Do you want to order something different? Or are you happy waiting?”

“We’ll wait,” Sadie instantly supplied.

Frost checked over his shoulder to see if Star had noticed he was gone, but she was now deep in conversation with a girl who looked very much like a Star wannabe. He imagined it was one of his girlfriend’s many followers on social media, who turned up everywhere they went because the minute they arrived somewhere, she would post a selfie and a location and call out for any ‘Star-lifers’ to come say hi.

He had asked her a few times to stop, but she pointed out it was her career, and she needed to keep on producing interesting content to attract more sponsors, so she needed the Star-lifers to help provide her with that.

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