Nothing But Hate

Chapter Ten

Dan had called Tuck later that night, crying on the phone about how happy he was that he was going to be a father. The man had always worn his heart on his sleeve, and was a tad bit more emotional compared to Tucker. But Tuck didn't mind, he listened to his best friend patiently, happy as well because he knew the baby was going to have two amazing parents.

The next day, Dan came over for beer and wings. It was tradition for the two of them to celebrate any and all good news this way. They put on Pulp Fiction, and spent the day eating, drinking, and watching the movie for probably the hundredth time.

They called a few of their other friends later for dinner as well. They were all friends from law school, even though Tuck wasn't as close to them anymore as he was with Dan, he still enjoyed their presence.

The night went by in a blur. They had switched from beer to whiskey, and most of the conversation was about the interesting cases that they'd fought over the course of the last few years. Tucker and Dan were the only ones that worked at the DA's office, the rest were corporate lawyers, working at different legal firms.

Dan was the first one to leave, he didn't want his bride-to-be, and now also the mother of his his unborn child to be alone for the night. The rest of them being bachelors, decided to hit up some club. Tucker wasn't a huge fan of clubs, but he was already pretty drunk so he agreed without much resistance.

The club they went to was an exclusive one, it seemed like a place that Tucker would usually avoid. But apparently Landon, one of his friends, hung out there a lot and called it the 'best place to find someone to get laid'. Tucker obviously wasn't planning on hooking up since he was already seeing someone.

Another friend of his, Nolan, was also spoken for. So the two remained at the bar, drinking and watching the rest dance and trying to pick up girls. Tucker laughed, sipping his drink as he watched Landon not so subtly make a fool of himself on the dance floor. No matter how weird, Landon had a eccentric charm, Tucker had to give him that.

They had been there for about an hour, when Tucker excused himself to go to the loo. After finishing his business, on his way back, he noticed the man he had been seeing almost everywhere recently.

Callum Kaufman was seated in the VIP area. He wasn't wearing his usual formal suit, but a navy blue shirt with the first few buttons open, and sleeves folded till his elbows. There were about five or six more people in the booth, and Callum was making conversation with them.

Tucker watched as the man laughed at something the girl next to him said. She put a hand on his arm, shifting just a tiny bit closer to him with each passing second. Tucker didn't know how long he stood there, watching them. Eventually, Callum looked in his direction.

Callum seemed a bit taken aback at first, but he was quick to cover it. Tucker could see Callum moving his lips, talking to the girl as he continued staring back at Tucker. The side of his lip moved up in a smirk, as he leaned his head down.

Callum was whispering in her ear now, and she closed her eyes as he bit her earlobe. He kept doing that, not once breaking his eye contact with Tucker. Tucker knew what this was about, he knew that Callum was getting back to him for kissing Divij in front of him the way he did.

He repeated in his head that he won't fall for any of his tricks, but maybe it was the alcohol in his system, or maybe he was having a stroke and was paralysed. But he just couldn't look or move away.

Tucker was finally broken out of his trance when Nolan came looking for him. He had been gone for too long, afterall.

"What're you doing here?" Nolan asked, wrapping his arm around Tucker's shoulders.