3. Lucky #2
The waitress came and took our orders. I ordered a side of marinara to dip my grilled chicken sandwich in, and Nick, weirdly, ordered a second marinara, even though he was getting a steak and side salad. Nick took pretty good care of himself, even down to eating fairly decently.
I didn’t.
Back in December, when I was staying with Nick because coyotes were after Dice, Nick discovered I ate like a teenager. Instead of teasing me, or trying to change me, he'd simply refilled my designated cupboard with Hot Cheetos and chocolate Hostess doughnuts every week.
Life was hard enough. I shuddered to think how bad it would be without my Cheetos and doughnuts.
“Here comes our food.” Our server delivered Nick’s plate first, then set my plate down in front of me, but before I could properly blink and process, I was wearing red marinara sauce down the front of my dress.
The server gasped.
The whole area around our table went suddenly quiet, probably waiting for me to explode. I didn’t though. I couldn’t even count the amount of times this had happened to me.
“It’s okay,” I said, taking the extra napkins from the center of the table, and dabbing at the sauce. “It’s not your fault.”
“I’m so, sooo sorry,” the young woman said in a panicked voice. “I don’t know what happened. It was suddenly just flying out of my hands.”
Nick pulled his man bag to the front of him, and one by one handed me things. First, a wet wipe to clean the sticky off my chin and neck. Then, a stain remover wipe to dab at the stain on my dress. Then he slid the marinara he’d ordered to my side of the table, all without saying a thing.
I was getting choked up again, a perilously common thing around Nick.
Was his whole man bag for me?
And the marinara? He’d ordered it as a backup for me, just in case.
I had to clamp down tightly on my emotions or I was going to either cry or jump across the table and passionately make out with him.
Since neither was appropriate in our current location, and one of those was dangerous to my heart, I closed my eyes until I had control, then opened them to find that Nick’s gaze had never left me.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
After I’d failed to blow up, people had gone back to their own meals, but I still appreciated that he tried to keep his question quiet. It was never fun being in the spotlight because of my mishaps.
I nodded. It was all I could do. If I spoke, I’d lose the tenuous control I had over myself.
“Can I get you a free dessert when you’re finished with your meal?” our waitress asked meekly.
Nick focused on the distressed waitress. “It’s okay, really. We don’t need a free dessert. But thank you. We will take one of every dessert, though.”
She blinked in surprise, but wrote it up on her tablet, and, after another apology to me for the mess, scooted off to make our desserts happen.
“One of everything?”
He grinned. “I’m in the mood for something sweet, and I can’t have you because you keep turning me down.”
I could feel my face flush as people looked over at us again. A couple women a few tables over looked at Nick, then me, then back to Nick, then back to me with expressions that clearly doubted my sanity.
I sometimes doubted my sanity too.
“I can handle the chaos, Lucky,” Nick said softly. “I wish you’d give me a chance. I know you’re worried you’ll ruin my life, but all I want is a life with you.”
I shook my head. “You can’t know that, Nick. You’ve spent months around me. You don’t know what it’s like to be around me day after day, year after year.”
He sighed. “You’re right. I don’t. But I do know that if you give me a chance, I wouldn’t sit around moping when life gets a little chaotic at times. I’d count my lucky stars and spend every minute loving you to the best of my ability every day for the rest of our lives.”
I sniffed a hiccuping laugh, then gave up trying to eat my grilled chicken, and instead picked at my fries. “Your lucky stars?”
He laughed, and gently reached for my hand. He could probably feel that it was trembling, but gallantly didn’t comment on it. “Please give me a chance. Save my brothers from my whining. I promise to spoil you for the rest of your life, and I’ll never regret being with you.”
I found the courage to look up at him, though it was difficult.
“What if my curse kills you?” I whispered.
I was terrified that one day my curse would take the life of someone I loved.
Terrified. I couldn’t handle it if that happened, so I’d walled myself off from loving people for a very long time.
Until Dice, I’d only had my grandfather, who was immune to my magic.
“Genies are mostly immortal.”
I shook my head hard enough to make my braid whip across my face. “But not completely. Something could still happen to you. Like, I don’t know, a safe could fall from the sky and crush your skull or something.”
His lips twitched with the beginnings of a smile. “Have you seen many safes fall from the sky, Lucks?”
“It could happen!” I threw my hands in the air. “Anything could happen around me. That’s the point!”
Nick looked like he was seconds from getting up from his seat to come around to mine and comfort me.
“Don’t you dare do it,” I warned in a low voice. “They’ll all think you’re proposing. Either that, or that I’m off my meds.”
“If I thought you’d say yes, I’d propose right now,” he said, all traces of humor gone.
“Nick,” I whimpered.
Nick took my expression in, then stood to flag our waitress, and quickly came around the table to help me up.
“We’ll be right back,” he said to her. “Here’s my credit card as collateral so you don’t think we’re skipping out on the bill.
When we get back, we’ll have the desserts, but I think we’re done with our meal.
” He checked with me, and I nodded. I didn’t think I could eat another bite.
I’d try to find room past the choked feeling in my throat for dessert though. Dessert was always worth it.
“Of course.” She pocketed the card, and left to refill another table’s drinks.
Nick herded me like a sheep dog toward a secluded corner behind the restaurant, well out of view of everyone else.
“Do you know what she thinks we’re doing right now?
” I hissed at him as he pulled my trembling body close, and cuddled me in an idealistic attempt to soothe me.
The sound of the crashing waves was louder in the little secluded corner he’d pulled me to.
They pounded into the shore with the same intensity that my heart was thudding against my ribs.
“Getting lucky?”
“Very funny.”
He pulled back from me just enough to peer tenderly down into my face. “Am I. Getting Lucky?”
I bit my lip. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I said brokenly.
Nick nodded. “What if we take these thirty days as a test? You’re certain your chaos will drive me away or hurt me. If you’re willing to try, I’ll prove to you that no matter what life brings our way, I’m up for the challenge.”
“Why would you want to live your life like that, though? Always on edge. Always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I can tell you from experience that it isn’t fun.”
He gently cupped my cheek. “Because I would do anything for you, Lucky.”
I had to blink up at the pink sunset to keep dumb tears from leaking out of my dumb eyes, but when I had control of myself again I said, “Okay. We’ll do a thirty day test. If you’re not dead or done with me by the end of it, we’ll consider a longer term situation.”
“Like marriage?”
I laughed, thumping my forehead against his chest in surrender. “Nick! What am I going to do with you?”
He kissed the top of my head. “You could make out with me?” He sounded hopeful.
I sighed as I shook my head and towed him back to our table.
“You’re not getting that lucky.”