Love at 16 Degrees F
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Nick, Ashley and Tomas spent the night quiet and slightly uncomfortable. Ashley sat on the couch with Tomas while Nick sat on the opposite couch alone. All night long Ashley could not help but feel heartbroken and responsible for her twin. More than anything she wanted to drive back over to Logan’s house and to beat Amanda up for multiple reasons. The most important one being the complete disregard she was having for Nick’s feelings. The next reason in line would be to have revenge for her hitting her and stepping on her at the club.
Despite all her anger Ashley decided it would just be better to pretend that nothing was bothering her, and eventually Logan would get tired of Amanda. She remained on the couch watching TV and chatting with Tomas until it got late enough for everyone to go to bed. Tomas and Ashley had headed upstairs after showing Nick the guest room.
In the morning, Tomas woke up first and packed his things. He decided since he was first up he would make breakfast for everyone else.
About halfway through making bacon Ashley woke up and made her way downstairs. She yawned as she leaned in the doorway. Tomas looked up from his work and smiled at her standing in his long shirt and her pajama shorts.
“Good morning.”
She came into the room and took a seat on one of the bar stools.
“Yes, it is. Unfortunately, I fear tonight will not be so good.” She replied.
Tomas shook his head as he set a plate of over easy eggs, bacon and toast in front of her.
“I think we will be okay. Amanda seemed happy. She won Logan.”
Ashley grabbed her fork from Tomas and thanked him.
“I think you are right. I just hope she doesn’t try to rub it in all day.”
Tomas shrugged.
“It shouldn’t matter. Logan is still your friend.”
Ashley nodded instead of continuing to talk about it. She took a bite of her food.
“It is very good.”
Tomas smiled.
“Thank you. I told you I like to cook.” Tomas put two pieces of wheat toast into the toaster and looked out of the doorway at Nick.
“I should wake him.”
Ashley nodded.
Tomas set up a plate and walked out to get Nick.
“Nick, breakfast. Get your lazy bum up.”
Nick sat up and squinted at Tomas.
“What?”
Ashley heard the conversation from the kitchen and called out.
“English, babe. Talk in English.”
“Oh…” Tomas frowned and handed the plate to Nick. “Food. You eat.”
Nick took the plate and nodded.
“Ash, you gotta work on that English… Like today. Nobody is going to understand him at home.”
Tomas nodded at him (not sure of what he said) then walked back into the kitchen.
Ashley looked up at him as he entered and smiled.
“Oh yeah… You have a lot to learn…”
~
Logan awoke to someone snuggled up close behind him in bed. He sighed when he remembered the day before.
“Good morning, Logy.”
Amanda said sing songy behind him. She hugged him tight.
“Morning.” He replied.
Amanda released him and bounced up.
“I was going to cook, but let’s just go out to get breakfast with them. Oh! Merry Christmas, baby. What are we going to wear today? We should match. Let me go look for your clothes.”
Amanda got up from the bed and got halfway to the closet before turning around.
“Well go get in the shower. I will be in there in a minute.”
Logan’s eyes widened.
“Yeah that is not happening.” He thought.
Logan got up and stretched. He tried to think of a cop out.
“Hey, why don’t you just pack our things. I will be quick.”
Amanda peeked her head out from the closet and frowned.
“Okay, Love.”
Logan grabbed his phone off his night stand and headed downstairs.
“LoCo: Are you awake and ready to go?” Logan texted Ashley while getting a towel.
A minute later he got a reply.
“Ashers: Yes. Tomas got up and made everyone breakfast. Packed our stuff too. We are ready to go when you are.”
Logan scoffed.
“Oh he is just wonderful Logan!” He mocked her in his head.
“LoCo: Yeah it is going good here too. We should be ready in the hour. Amanda is getting our clothes ready as we speak. We gotta take a shower first.”
He sent the message and held his breath for a second. He knew for a fact that would bother her even if she wasn’t in love with him. Secretly, he was happy it would.
~
Ashley glared at the last text from Logan trying to decide how to respond. She debated back and forth on “Oh good. Don’t want to have both of you sticky in my car.” “Good. Because you guys won’t be able to have sex at my place.” And “Yeah, a shower isn’t going to save you from STDs.”
She sighed and just decided to respond like she didn’t get sexual meaning.
“Ashers: Okay cool! Sounds like we are almost ready to go. See you in an hour.”
She put her phone into her pocket and sighed. At the same time Tomas came in from the bathroom and set his overnight bag next to her on the bed.
“Something wrong?” He asked.
Ashley sighed again. She could not bring herself to mention Logan again to Tomas.
“My head just hurts.”
Tomas knelt down in front of her and lifted her chin.
“You have not been resting.”
Ashley thought about her last few days then nodded.
“Sleep my Ashley. I will come get you when he is here.”
Ashley was going to protest but could feel how tired she felt. Tomas kissed her head before picking up her bag and his own.
“Goodnight.” He joked.
Ashley smiled, “Goodnight.”
~
“Okay no. I am not trusting you to drive her car.”
Ashley felt herself being moved. Her eyes opened up quick to see herself outside being carried to her car by Tomas. Logan and Amanda were in front talking to Nick.
“I have been driving it just fine.” Logan protested against Nick.
“Yeah, no. I’m driving.” Nick grabbed the keys and stormed to the drivers seat.
“Well I call shotgun then.” Logan stated.
Amanda frowned and grabbed his arm.
“But, Logy don’t you want to sit next to me?”
Logan shook his head.
“No, Tomas and Ashley would sit by each other. Plus she is asle-“ Logan looked back at Ashley, “Oh she is awake.”
Amanda, Tomas and Logan all were looking at her.
“Well… Now she is awake. She can sit next to Nick.” Amanda stated.
The group stopped walking and all looked at each other. Logan’s arms were crossed. Ashley motioned for Tomas to set her down so she stood watching the couple standing off.
“But… Don’t you want to be by me?”
Ashley couldn’t stand the look on her face.
“My car, my trip. You can sit in the back by me. Logan takes the front.”
Ashley grabbed Tomas’s hand and guided him to the back of the car. Behind her she could hear Amanda’s sound of disgust.
Amanda looked to Logan for some kind of support but only saw him shrug.
“You heard her.”
Amanda crossed her arms and stormed to the car.
~
“Hey!” Ashley’s mom came down from the porch with arms open.
Everyone was climbing out of the car after Nick parked. Logan came out first and hugged Renee.
“Hey kid. I haven’t seen you in a while. How is the team?”
Renee launched into a conversation with Logan while everyone grabbed the bags out of the car.
“She talks very fast.” Tomas whispered to Ashley while staring at her mom.
“Yes. You will be okay though. They know you won’t understand them well.” Ashley reassured.
Tomas grabbed Ashley’s bag from the back of the Prius along with his. He and Ashley turned around and headed into the house where everyone else had gone. They entered to find Logan and Amanda sitting on the couch chatting with the twin’s parents. Nick was nowhere to be found.
“There you are!”
Renee stood up and hugged Ashley. She looked up at Tomas and smiled.
“Hi mom. This is Tomas.”
“Hello.” Tomas said in English.
Renee smiled and looked to Ashley.
“Well thank you guys for coming up. I know it is a long drive. But it is Christmas and who wants to be alone on Christmas?”
Everyone laughed and nodded. Tomas set down the bags by the door where Amanda’s was sitting. Ashley grabbed his hand as she listened to her family chat with Amanda and Logan.
“Yes, we have been watching you guys a ton lately. Awesome win the other night. You with the game winning goal, Hertl.” Ashley’s dad smiled at Tomas.
He nodded and smiled back.
Amanda was looking over at Ashley and Tomas with a glare.
“You know what? Now that we actually have some real hockey players here, maybe they can teach me how to skate.” Amanda spoke up.
Ashley’s face started to get red. For years she had tried to Take Amanda out to skate and by now she could do it just fine. However, now with everyone here Amanda was going to pretend she couldn’t skate just so she could be taught again. Ashley resisted rolling her eyes.
“That would be so fun! You guys could probably even play a little bit of hockey.” Renee suggested.
Tomas looked down at Ashley in confusion. She briefly translated what was said and saw the worry on his face.
“Your head.” He reminded her.
Ashley looked back at her family to find them looking at her.
“What do you think?” Renee asked her.
Ashley quickly thought about the chance of her falling and getting hurt worst. Then the idea of Amanda looking like an idiot came to mind.
“Yes. Let’s do it.” She replied with a smirk.
Nick, Ashley and Tomas spent the night quiet and slightly uncomfortable. Ashley sat on the couch with Tomas while Nick sat on the opposite couch alone. All night long Ashley could not help but feel heartbroken and responsible for her twin. More than anything she wanted to drive back over to Logan’s house and to beat Amanda up for multiple reasons. The most important one being the complete disregard she was having for Nick’s feelings. The next reason in line would be to have revenge for her hitting her and stepping on her at the club.
Despite all her anger Ashley decided it would just be better to pretend that nothing was bothering her, and eventually Logan would get tired of Amanda. She remained on the couch watching TV and chatting with Tomas until it got late enough for everyone to go to bed. Tomas and Ashley had headed upstairs after showing Nick the guest room.
In the morning, Tomas woke up first and packed his things. He decided since he was first up he would make breakfast for everyone else.
About halfway through making bacon Ashley woke up and made her way downstairs. She yawned as she leaned in the doorway. Tomas looked up from his work and smiled at her standing in his long shirt and her pajama shorts.
“Good morning.”
She came into the room and took a seat on one of the bar stools.
“Yes, it is. Unfortunately, I fear tonight will not be so good.” She replied.
Tomas shook his head as he set a plate of over easy eggs, bacon and toast in front of her.
“I think we will be okay. Amanda seemed happy. She won Logan.”
Ashley grabbed her fork from Tomas and thanked him.
“I think you are right. I just hope she doesn’t try to rub it in all day.”
Tomas shrugged.
“It shouldn’t matter. Logan is still your friend.”
Ashley nodded instead of continuing to talk about it. She took a bite of her food.
“It is very good.”
Tomas smiled.
“Thank you. I told you I like to cook.” Tomas put two pieces of wheat toast into the toaster and looked out of the doorway at Nick.
“I should wake him.”
Ashley nodded.
Tomas set up a plate and walked out to get Nick.
“Nick, breakfast. Get your lazy bum up.”
Nick sat up and squinted at Tomas.
“What?”
Ashley heard the conversation from the kitchen and called out.
“English, babe. Talk in English.”
“Oh…” Tomas frowned and handed the plate to Nick. “Food. You eat.”
Nick took the plate and nodded.
“Ash, you gotta work on that English… Like today. Nobody is going to understand him at home.”
Tomas nodded at him (not sure of what he said) then walked back into the kitchen.
Ashley looked up at him as he entered and smiled.
“Oh yeah… You have a lot to learn…”
~
Logan awoke to someone snuggled up close behind him in bed. He sighed when he remembered the day before.
“Good morning, Logy.”
Amanda said sing songy behind him. She hugged him tight.
“Morning.” He replied.
Amanda released him and bounced up.
“I was going to cook, but let’s just go out to get breakfast with them. Oh! Merry Christmas, baby. What are we going to wear today? We should match. Let me go look for your clothes.”
Amanda got up from the bed and got halfway to the closet before turning around.
“Well go get in the shower. I will be in there in a minute.”
Logan’s eyes widened.
“Yeah that is not happening.” He thought.
Logan got up and stretched. He tried to think of a cop out.
“Hey, why don’t you just pack our things. I will be quick.”
Amanda peeked her head out from the closet and frowned.
“Okay, Love.”
Logan grabbed his phone off his night stand and headed downstairs.
“LoCo: Are you awake and ready to go?” Logan texted Ashley while getting a towel.
A minute later he got a reply.
“Ashers: Yes. Tomas got up and made everyone breakfast. Packed our stuff too. We are ready to go when you are.”
Logan scoffed.
“Oh he is just wonderful Logan!” He mocked her in his head.
“LoCo: Yeah it is going good here too. We should be ready in the hour. Amanda is getting our clothes ready as we speak. We gotta take a shower first.”
He sent the message and held his breath for a second. He knew for a fact that would bother her even if she wasn’t in love with him. Secretly, he was happy it would.
~
Ashley glared at the last text from Logan trying to decide how to respond. She debated back and forth on “Oh good. Don’t want to have both of you sticky in my car.” “Good. Because you guys won’t be able to have sex at my place.” And “Yeah, a shower isn’t going to save you from STDs.”
She sighed and just decided to respond like she didn’t get sexual meaning.
“Ashers: Okay cool! Sounds like we are almost ready to go. See you in an hour.”
She put her phone into her pocket and sighed. At the same time Tomas came in from the bathroom and set his overnight bag next to her on the bed.
“Something wrong?” He asked.
Ashley sighed again. She could not bring herself to mention Logan again to Tomas.
“My head just hurts.”
Tomas knelt down in front of her and lifted her chin.
“You have not been resting.”
Ashley thought about her last few days then nodded.
“Sleep my Ashley. I will come get you when he is here.”
Ashley was going to protest but could feel how tired she felt. Tomas kissed her head before picking up her bag and his own.
“Goodnight.” He joked.
Ashley smiled, “Goodnight.”
~
“Okay no. I am not trusting you to drive her car.”
Ashley felt herself being moved. Her eyes opened up quick to see herself outside being carried to her car by Tomas. Logan and Amanda were in front talking to Nick.
“I have been driving it just fine.” Logan protested against Nick.
“Yeah, no. I’m driving.” Nick grabbed the keys and stormed to the drivers seat.
“Well I call shotgun then.” Logan stated.
Amanda frowned and grabbed his arm.
“But, Logy don’t you want to sit next to me?”
Logan shook his head.
“No, Tomas and Ashley would sit by each other. Plus she is asle-“ Logan looked back at Ashley, “Oh she is awake.”
Amanda, Tomas and Logan all were looking at her.
“Well… Now she is awake. She can sit next to Nick.” Amanda stated.
The group stopped walking and all looked at each other. Logan’s arms were crossed. Ashley motioned for Tomas to set her down so she stood watching the couple standing off.
“But… Don’t you want to be by me?”
Ashley couldn’t stand the look on her face.
“My car, my trip. You can sit in the back by me. Logan takes the front.”
Ashley grabbed Tomas’s hand and guided him to the back of the car. Behind her she could hear Amanda’s sound of disgust.
Amanda looked to Logan for some kind of support but only saw him shrug.
“You heard her.”
Amanda crossed her arms and stormed to the car.
~
“Hey!” Ashley’s mom came down from the porch with arms open.
Everyone was climbing out of the car after Nick parked. Logan came out first and hugged Renee.
“Hey kid. I haven’t seen you in a while. How is the team?”
Renee launched into a conversation with Logan while everyone grabbed the bags out of the car.
“She talks very fast.” Tomas whispered to Ashley while staring at her mom.
“Yes. You will be okay though. They know you won’t understand them well.” Ashley reassured.
Tomas grabbed Ashley’s bag from the back of the Prius along with his. He and Ashley turned around and headed into the house where everyone else had gone. They entered to find Logan and Amanda sitting on the couch chatting with the twin’s parents. Nick was nowhere to be found.
“There you are!”
Renee stood up and hugged Ashley. She looked up at Tomas and smiled.
“Hi mom. This is Tomas.”
“Hello.” Tomas said in English.
Renee smiled and looked to Ashley.
“Well thank you guys for coming up. I know it is a long drive. But it is Christmas and who wants to be alone on Christmas?”
Everyone laughed and nodded. Tomas set down the bags by the door where Amanda’s was sitting. Ashley grabbed his hand as she listened to her family chat with Amanda and Logan.
“Yes, we have been watching you guys a ton lately. Awesome win the other night. You with the game winning goal, Hertl.” Ashley’s dad smiled at Tomas.
He nodded and smiled back.
Amanda was looking over at Ashley and Tomas with a glare.
“You know what? Now that we actually have some real hockey players here, maybe they can teach me how to skate.” Amanda spoke up.
Ashley’s face started to get red. For years she had tried to Take Amanda out to skate and by now she could do it just fine. However, now with everyone here Amanda was going to pretend she couldn’t skate just so she could be taught again. Ashley resisted rolling her eyes.
“That would be so fun! You guys could probably even play a little bit of hockey.” Renee suggested.
Tomas looked down at Ashley in confusion. She briefly translated what was said and saw the worry on his face.
“Your head.” He reminded her.
Ashley looked back at her family to find them looking at her.
“What do you think?” Renee asked her.
Ashley quickly thought about the chance of her falling and getting hurt worst. Then the idea of Amanda looking like an idiot came to mind.
“Yes. Let’s do it.” She replied with a smirk.
I read the first chapter and so far I LOVE IT! :DDD I voted and subscribed to it! :) Can't wait to read the rest of it! :DDD And I don't know if you know this, but I did reply to your message on Tumblr ;) But awesome story! :DDDDDD
4/20/15