Batter of Wits (Green Valley Chronicles #22) - Smartypants Romance Page 0,16

hand. "First time is always the trickiest. You'll get it."

For a moment, I let my eyes drift around the table, now that I wasn't under the proverbial spotlight. To a certain degree, they were all speaking like that. Twisting around each other, popping into each other's conversations like it was a dance.

Someone laughed, and it pulled the person on the other side of them into the discussion. The next person dropped their voice to a whisper, and the person next to her tilted her head to try and hear better. I lifted my camera and took a quick snap.

The whispering pair darted their eyes toward me, but one sent me a friendly smile that made the wrinkles on her cheeks bunch up in tight little lines.

I couldn't help but smile back, because I felt a little bit like I'd been dropped into a zoo, and I couldn't tell who was on what side of the glass.

"Careful," a deep voice said from behind me, "you smile too much and people will think you're nice to strangers, and I'd hate to break their hearts."

Just like that, my spine stiffened and all the little hairs stood up along the back of my neck.

That voice did something strange to the inside of my ears, hit a pitch that wasn't supposed to be hit, or clanged a bell that made my eardrums rattle.

He dropped his big body into the chair around the corner from me, and his knees brushed against mine. I yanked my legs back.

"There are other empty chairs here, you know."

My icy tone did nothing to deter him, because he spread his elbows over the surface of the table and grinned at me. "There sure are, and they look as comfy as this one is. But I'd have to make one of those nice ladies move from where they're standing if I sat in one, and my momma raised me to have better manners than that."

Mimicking his posture, I propped my elbows on the table and set my chin on my clenched fists, giving him as bored of a look as I could manage. "Fine, just try not to speak to me. Your voice hurts my head."

The least I could do was be honest, if I couldn't manage to explain the inexplicable reaction I was having to him.

His chuckle started low and slow, like he'd clicked a stove burner to simmer. My frame shook with a shiver, and I fought not to plug my fingers in my ear like a little kid.

“What are you doing here anyway?” I asked. “You look a little … young to be with this group.”

Tucker glanced around the room with a shameless shrug. “I don’t judge people by their age, Angry Girl. Not nice of you to stereotype who enjoys spending time together based on their birth year.”

I clenched my teeth, and he grinned lazily. Like a great big cat sunning himself. Then he leaned in. “My father asked me to sit in, in his place, if you’re so interested.”

“Just trying to make polite conversation.”

“Are you? That’s something new.”

I gave him a level look at the heavy, heavy sarcasm, but he held it, practically dared me to look away first.

Someone cleared their throat, and I pulled my eyes from Tucker’s.

"Ladies, let's get the meeting started, shall we?" The woman who said it was clearly in charge. She wore glasses perched up on top of her head like a crown, next to her chair was a walker coated in purple glitter, and her voice carried the entire length of the gym. The clipboard she clutched to her purple and white polka dot dress looked about as old as she was, and as soon as she set it down, she pinned her iron gray eyes directly on me. "Now, who're you and why are you here?"

Aunt Fran sat down and clucked her tongue. "Good Lord, and those are your southern manners, Maxine? You should be ashamed of yourself."

The woman in question stared down my aunt, the unmoving equivalent of an eyeroll. "My apologies. I'm Maxine Barton, if the women around the table feel so moved, they can introduce themselves later. Clearly, you already know Tucker," she said meaningfully, and I felt my cheeks burn hot. She set her hands down and leaned her thin frame forward in the chair. "Now it's your turn. Who are you and why are you here?"

Aunt Fran nudged my elbow with her own and exhaled quietly. "I'm Grace Buchanan, and I'm new in town. My