“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.
