Nothing But Hate

Chapter Nineteen

Tucker looked over the menu, his mind already calculating how this dinner was going to end up leaving him broke. The two men ordered drinks, Callum suggested a fancy scotch from a year Tucker couldn't recall.

Once the drinks were on the table, and they gave their orders to the waitress, the two men looked at each other in silence. Considering Tucker's history, he had been on a lot of dates, and he was usually a smooth talker. Despite the fact that he had known Callum for a good few months now, it just felt awkward having dinner with him. Voluntarily, that too.

"How was work?" Tucker asked, unable to think of anything else.

"I thought you didn't like talking about work," Callum pointed out, an amused smile on his face, "Are you nervous?"

"Nervous?" Tucker scoffed, "No. Feeling a bit weird? Yeah."

"Why is that?" Callum asked.

"I just.. I just never thought I'd go out with you," Tucker answered honestly, "Out of my own free will."

"Don't tell me you're regretting it already," Callum joked, "We haven't even had the appetizers yet."

"Not yet," Tucker shrugged, "It might change later on, so beware."

"I'll be on my best behaviour for you, darling." Callum said, making Tucker laugh.

"Did you just call me darling?"

"Do you like it?" Callum smirked.

"Yeah," Tucker paused, "I would if we were fifty. On that note, how old are you?"

"Twenty nine." Callum answered, leaving Tucker a little shocked as he took a sip of the best scotch he'd ever had.

"Really? I thought you'd be my age. Or younger." Tucker said.

"I'm blessed with the Kaufman genes. Looking younger is one of our many qualities." Callum said.

"I thought we were just Cal and Tuck?" Tucker asked.

"Right," Callum nodded, "Tell me about you family."

"Well, you already know about Paige," Tuck said, making Callum nod again, "My dad's a retired firefighter. He's really into music, I think he has learned around six different instruments since he retired."

"Six? That's impressive. How long ago did he retire?" Callum asked.

"Around a decade now," Tucker continued upon seeing the confusion on Callum's face, "He had an accident on the job. Been on the wheelchair ever since."

"Oh, I'm—"

"Don't worry about it," Tucker shook his head dismissively, "My mom's a teacher. She's in the running to be the principal this year so fingers crossed for that."

"Are they in the city?" Callum asked and Tucker nodded, "So, you grew up here?"

"Born and raised," Tucker answered, "Shouldn't you know this from the time you stalked me?"

"I didn't stalk you," Callum clarified, "Like I told you before, I just got some basic information about you since you were suing my company."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Tucker smirked.

"You might help."

"That's so cheeky." Tucker laughed.

Once the food came, the two mostly ate in a comfortable silence. They talked a little about the type of food they liked to eat, and Tucker learned that Callum couldn't cook to save a life. And also, that the man has never had McDonald's in his entire life.