Page 86 of Doc Defence

CHAPTER 29

FROST

Froststoodinfrontof 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.

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