Page 23 of Luck Be a Genie

I chuckled.

Life was always fun with brothers.

A pain, but fun.

Chapter 9

Lucky

Nick took care of me for the next few days. He ran baths for me, brushed out my hair when I was impatient and kept snagging it, making my head throb, walked with me around the resort when I could go outside again, and was just a general sweetheart.

I also hadn’t had any chaos magic disasters for a few days, and I was grateful for that. I had seriously needed a break from them. Hopefully, with my grandfather and Finn both looking for a way to get rid of it, I would get a permanent break soon.

We played cards and board games, and I think Nick let me win sometimes, because I was notoriously terrible at card games and boardgames. Like, wince-worthy terrible. And I knew the stereotype about blondes, but I was very smart, thank you very much. I just wasn’t much for games.

But with Nick, they had been fun.

On day five, I was well enough for us to do a spa day. I tried to get ready quickly, taking a quick shower, and then brushing my hair and my teeth. By the time Nick knocked on our adjoining door, I had already put together a little tote bag full of things I might need, including a swimsuit. I was pretty sure the spa would have everything else. We were doing a hydrotherapy circuit, moving between hot tubs, cold plunges, steam rooms, and saunas. It was supposed to be good for soreness, sleep, and your lymphatic system.

We checked in at the front desk—Nick had made appointments for us—then we separated to go to our locker rooms and get changed. The spa provided a robe and towels, so I put the robe on, grabbed a towel, and went to find Nick.

He was standing by the large sauna. We were in the water sanctuary area. It was filled with plants, a few small bridges, a gentle river, and a few softly gushing waterfalls. Low, peaceful music played in the background. Nothing was loud or overstimulating, and the ceiling in the water area was all glass. Scattered around the area were lounge chairs. We set our robes and towels on a few next to each other, then entered the sauna.

The sauna’s dry heat hit me immediately when I walked in. Nick and I chose a seat and tried to relax for ten minutes, chatting quietly so we didn’t disturb the others.

Nick turned to me with a grin when our time was up. “Ready for the cold plunge?”

I groaned. “Not even close, but let’s do it anyway.”

“That’s my girl.” He took my hand and we made our way to the cold plunge pool. Still holding my hand, he turned to look at me. “Go together?”

“I don’t know if I can do this,” I whimpered. The other people in the plunge pool looked like they were ice cubes.

I didn’t want to be an ice cube.

“Mind over matter, Lucks.”

I bit my lip, closed my eyes for courage, then opened them again and nodded at him. “Together.”

Together we entered the pool quickly, still holding hands. I wanted to scream like a banshee, but instead put my head against Nick’s chest, closed my eyes, and tried to take slow, deep breaths as Nick held me.

I was going to die.

Literally, I was going to die.

“Keep breathing, sunshine,” Nick whispered in my ear, making me shiver for an entirely different reason.

It was all I could do to listen to him.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Try not to get dizzy or pass out. Come to think of it, was this really the best choice after mostly recovering from a minor concussion? This had probably been a really bad decision.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

“Thirty more seconds. You’re doing great, Lucks. You’ve got this.”

I so didn’t have this.

I was too cold to even shiver. I just stood there miserably stuck to Nick like glue as he continued whispering encouraging things in my ear and I tried not to whimper.