17. Lucky
Lucky
“We get to see sharks today!” Nick said when he met me at my door, grinning widely.
“Yay.”
My completely deadpan tone made him laugh as he hugged me good morning. “Please curb your enthusiasm, sunshine. It’s too early in the morning for that level of excitement.”
“Ha, ha.” But seriously, sharks? No thank you. And not only would we be seeing them, but there was a part of the Maui Ocean Center where you were surrounded by them in a full 360-degree tank that covered the walkway.
I shivered.
All it would take is one blip from my chaos magic, and that tank probably wouldn’t stand a chance. Did I want to be eaten by sharks today?
No. I would rather pass on that experience, thank you.
But Nick assured me that whatever happened, he would protect me, even from sharks.
The problem was I didn’t want him to get eaten either.
I thought this was just the essence of being a good girlfriend: Don’t let your boyfriend get eaten by sharks.
It seemed the very least of what should be expected of me.
I suppose it was possible we could have another peaceful day and nothing whatsoever chaos-ish would happen.
I huffed a disbelieving laugh under my breath.
Well, a girl could dream.
“Lucks, it’s not your fault. Cars break down sometimes.”
I sat in the passenger seat ordering us an Uber. And even though Nick was being sweet about not blaming me—
“How many engines have you seen just fall out of a car?”
He winced. “Not many. Not any, actually, but it was probably installed wrong, or the mounts that were holding it in place broke. It could happen to anyone.”
I disagreed. I didn’t think an engine falling out of a car was all that normal. “Yes, but it was more than likely my chaos magic.” I looked down at my phone again. “Looks like our Uber is about ten minutes out. You want me to call the rental company and report it?”
“No, thanks though. I’ll do it.”
Nick stepped out and moved the engine to the side of the road so it wouldn’t cause an accident, then called the place he’d rented the jeep from. I had no idea what they would do, because the paperwork said that we needed to return it in the same condition we’d taken it out in.
Missing an engine was not exactly in the same condition.
Finishing his phone call, he pocketed his phone, opened the door for me, and helped me out.
“They’re going to tow it. I’ve given them our location, and they said we won’t be held responsible for it.
They’re blaming the mechanic they take their cars to.
The person on the phone sounded a little shocked. ”
“What, they don’t have the engines falling out of their cars on a regular basis? How shocking.”
Nick chuckled, and pulled me into a hug. “I love it when you’re sarcastic and grouchy. It’s adorable.”
“No one wants to be adorable when they’re grouchy, Nick. That’s not the purpose of being grouchy.”
“What is the purpose of being grouchy, then?”
“To be grouchy, and for everyone to see that you’re grouchy and steer clear of you. Definitely not pull you into their arms and tell you you’re adorable,” I said in exasperation, making him smile.
“Agree to disagree. I think when you’re grouchy is the perfect time to tell you you’re adorable and hold you.”
I was desperately trying to reframe every time my chaos magic messed things up as an adventure in my mind, but so far I wasn’t succeeding.
If I was really honest, it was actually nice that my grouchiness didn’t make Nick bolt from me.
Maybe that was something more people should look for in a relationship, because Nick was an expert at it, and it really did make me feel better.
He kissed my temple. “It’s not your fault. Even if it’s your magic, it’s still not your fault.”
I tried to believe him; I really did. But it still felt like it was. Everything that kept going wrong was because of my chaos magic. No, I wasn’t in control of it, but that didn’t mean I felt any less culpable for it.
I sighed and fully slumped against him, my emotions going from grouchy to exhausted in an instant. “I’m just so weary, Nick.”
He held me tighter. “I know,” he said softly. “I’m here.”
We finally made it to the Maui Ocean Center. It was later than we’d wanted, but we still made it.
We parked and made our way into the welcome center, where we showed them our e-tickets. We’d bought the full tour where we got to feed the coral, but that wasn’t scheduled to start for more than an hour, so it left us plenty of time to look around and see everything else first.
When we walked out of the welcome center onto the grounds, I stopped and gazed around me in awe.
It was gorgeous here. Thanks to the proximity of the ocean, there was a steady coastal breeze that made the plants and palm trees sway.
I tilted my face up to the sun, letting the warmth and the refreshing breeze clear out the remainder of my grouchiness.
I was choosing to focus on the good in my life, and Nick was a big part of that good. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on the top of my head.
“This place is beautiful. It looks like they’ve incorporated a lot of native Hawaiian plants here.”
I leaned back against him, and we took a moment or two to pause and enjoy the beauty of the landscaping before moving deeper into the Ocean Center.
Further along the outside walkway, there was a door that led into the live coral reef area.
After going in, I had to immediately wait for my eyes to adjust. Most of the area was very dim with only a faint blue light coming from the many tanks on either side of the path.
“I can’t believe this is an actual, functioning coral reef. This is really cool.”
I loved the ocean and water in general, and even though I wasn’t really looking forward to the shark part, I was excited about exploring the rest.
Nick took my hand and we explored, stopping in each section and looking through the glass windows at the different sections of the reef.
There were three of them: the top reef, the mid reef, and the deep reef.
We also read all the informational signs they had posted everywhere, which were fascinating.
I loved learning, so we spent a lot of time on them, and Nick patiently let me take the lead and didn’t make me feel rushed.
“Did you know that microscopic coral polyps extract calcium carbonate to construct these massive reefs?”
He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, as though he thought I was being adorable again. “I didn’t, but it’s really cool. It’s interesting that something so tiny can create a structure that’s so big.”
I nodded. It really was.
After we’d gone through the entire living reef area, we found ourselves outside again, and I had to shield my eyes from the bright sun. Nick immediately slid his sunglasses off and put them on my face, making me sigh in relief.
“Thanks,” I murmured. My eyes were super sensitive to light, but I’d forgotten my sunglasses in my room, again, which was a rookie mistake here in Maui where the sun was bright enough to practically be seen from space some days.
Eventually, the path led to the outdoor sea turtle area.
There were large glass tanks along the walkway where we could see a few massive sea turtles swimming around.
We watched them for a while. I couldn’t believe how big they were!
One of the bigger ones would probably be close to my height if he was measured from nose to flipper.
“It says that these are actually juveniles that they raise here, and then they release them into the ocean when they’re big enough to survive. It’s part of the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle Educational Loan Program. Wow, that’s a mouthful.”
He chuckled. “I’ve always loved sea turtles. Did you know when they’re sleeping they can hold their breath for four to seven hours? When they’re moving around and active, I think it’s closer to forty-five minutes.”
When we moved on, I tripped on the stair, and Nick caught me before I took a header.
My heart was racing from the near miss, but I wasn’t too bothered because it was pretty normal for me and Nick.
“Thanks for that,” I said absently, then went back to turtles and their ability to hold their breath for a long time.
“Yeah, I can maybe hold my breath for thirty seconds, and probably less underwater. There’s just something so...
pressurizing about trying to hold your breath underwater. ”
He gave me a crooked grin, squeezing my hand as he released my arm from his catch-my-girlfriend-before-she-faceplants grip. “I’m not sure pressurizing is a word, sunshine.”
“Of course it’s a word! It’s a word because I just said the word. Why would I say a word that doesn’t exist?”
His lips twitched with amusement as he gently tugged me over to another tank with more sea turtles. “I would just like to state for the record that you make up words all the time.”
He was referencing our Scrabble game the other day. “Kerfuffle is not a made-up word! It’s in the dictionary and everything!”
His eyebrows lifted as he gave me a skeptical look. “Okay, what’s the definition, then?”
I scowled. “If you’d release my hand, I’ll look it up on my phone. I don’t just know the definition off the top of my head.”
He laughed as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me thoroughly. “Being right isn’t worth you leaving my arms,” he whispered against my lips, making me shiver. “I guess I’ll just have to trust you.”
I nodded, but after that kiss, I completely forgot the point I had been trying to make, or even what I had been protesting in the first place. His kisses made me forget my own name sometimes.
“Wait, did I just agree to something?” My thoughts were a little fuzzy.
He laughed and pulled me into the dark shark tunnel. “You agreed to marry me soon.”
“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t it. I would remember that.” Although, if he was kissing me at the time... maybe not?
In the dark atrium, just before the 360-degree tank, he turned back to me. “I’m going to ask you soon.”