Batter of Wits (Green Valley Chronicles #22) - Smartypants Romance Page 0,93

this. It was everything. Every part of this made me feel like I would escape my body if it were physically possible. Leave the empty husk standing in place next to Tucker.

I was meeting the mother of the man I loved desperately, the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and not only did my existence come as a complete shock to her, but I was half-naked and a presumed relationship-wrecker. She caught us screwing in his truck, in the middle of the day, and then he introduced me as Glenn’s daughter. If that didn’t scream casual, meaningless relationship, I didn’t know what did.

Awesome.

And even as I wanted to run, I knew that it must be equally as embarrassing for Tucker. If my own mom caught us like this, I’d want to freaking die. When his zipper was up, his belt firmly buckled, I took his hand again, and it was my turn to squeeze.

Three times.

He smiled down at me. Even if the edges of that smile were strained, it was something.

I still wanted to knee him in the balls a little bit, but it was something that I held onto with a desperate grip.

“I just wanted to check you on,” his mom continued. “You seemed so upset when your father said he was giving you the firm.”

“He’s what?” I gasped without thinking.

Tucker dropped his head. “Grace, I’ll explain later.”

His mom gave me a confused look. “I—I’m sorry?”

“I didn’t have a chance to tell her yet,” he told her.

It explained everything. The edge in him. The way he asserted control. The desperate way he touched me.

My heart broke for him, because it would feel like an anchor, tying him to a place that he didn’t want to be. Everything he didn’t want, handed to him like it was a gift. And he’d taken those frustrations out on me.

The ramifications of what happened trickled in like a slow bleed, just one scarlet drop at a time. It was slow, and quiet, but there was inexplicable hurt in the quiet after each one.

Instead of talking to me about it, he buried it deep and kept it to himself, smothering it with our physical connection like it was a medicine to fix his problem.

I breathed slowly, trying not to let that train of thought hurtle recklessly through my head. I pulled my hand out of his and crossed my arms over my bare midriff.

Stupid shredded shirt.

Tucker gave me a look of pained understanding, and then shrugged his unbuttoned dress shirt off his shoulders and handed it to me. I’d never grabbed anything faster. My fingers were practically shaking as I did up a few buttons. It swamped me, almost covering the hem of my shorts, but I could’ve cared less.

His mom looked even more lost now than when she showed up, and I couldn’t blame her. In some ways, my heart broke for her too, because she clearly loved her son, even if it wasn’t her place to question our relationship.

We’d had weeks to process everything, warm up to the way people might view us, the wrinkles we needed to get past, and essentially, we just dumped her into a boiling pot without warning.

The problem was, we’d been increasing the heat without thinking, without realizing it, with everything that went unsaid. My brother’s words echoed through my head, as Tucker searched for what to say to his mother.

All you’re doing is sitting in secrets.

His.

Mine.

Mrs. Haywood held up her hands. “I’m gonna leave you two to talk, but Tucker, I can tell something’s wrong, and I wish you’d talk to me. Or your father.”

“I,” he started, then exhaled heavily. “I will.”

She came up to him, and he let go of my hand to wrap her in a hug. “Nothing, and no one, is more important to us than you, Tucker Ames. No client, no business, no job. You are our son, and we love you.”

He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. “Love you too.”

What I would have given for my camera in that moment. The way he held her, the look on her face, it did funny things to my heart to be able to see this side of him. It was so strange, even though the entire situation was unfolding with more and more ickiness, I still wanted to find those beautiful things. Wanted to seek out the parts that were good.

Which was probably why I ignored the warning flags that got us here in