Nothing But Hate

Chapter Twenty Three

"Woah, you okay, Tucker?" Ivan, Tucker's gym slash boxing trainer asked, "That was quite a punch."

"I'm going to be in a room full of very punchable people soon," Tucker answered, as he took off his gloves, "Thought it best to blow off some steam beforehand."

"Makes sense," Ivan nodded, "If you get in trouble, know that you can call me."

"For sure, man." Tucker chuckled.

The gym was close to his apartment, so Tucker decided it best to go home and shower there before getting ready for the party that Joe was dragging him to. Tucker knew he was going to run into a lot of lawyers he has seen on the other side of the courtroom tonight, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

He thought about coming up with some excuse, but as much as Joe loved him and the two had a good relationship, he knew making Joe angry was a terrible mistake.

After a long shower, Tucker dressed up in the best tuxedo that he had. He wore this during one of his graduation parties when he finished law school, it was a gift from his parents. Joe had insisted on picking him up and driving together to the party, and Tuck knew it was the old man's way of making sure that Tucker doesn't back out at the last second.

Once he was ready, he had a bit of time to kill so he decided to pour himself a drink. A little alcohol before the night began sounded like a good idea. Joe reached on time, giving Tucker a call and asking him to come outside the building as he waited.

Tucker felt a strong sense of deja vu once he was in the car. He remembered when a few months ago it was Paige that was driving them to a work party that he didn't want to go to in the first place.

"Aren't you going to tell me to behave tonight?" Tucker asked, making Joe snort.

"If I wanted someone to lick asses I would've taken Cruz, not you." Joe answered, making Tucker chuckle.

"Good to know." Tuck said.

"Seriously," Joe began, "I hate going as much as you do, and I wouldn't if I absolutely didn't have to. Don't let anybody talk down on you. You have my blessings to go full Tucker."

"Full Tucker?" Tucker asked, amused, "What does that mean?"

"Oh, you know what I mean." Joe gave a knowing smirk.

"Sure thing, boss."

~~~

It had been almost two hours since Tucker arrived, and so far it wasn't terrible. Sure, he had to make conversation with some pretentious know-it-all's, met a few of his batchmates from law school as well as lawyers he had went against in the last few years, but it was all still tolerable as long as he kept refilling the drink in his hand.

"Tucker? Tucker Conway?" A voice called out for Tuck, the man turned around, looking at the source of the voice.

"Vincent?" Tucker narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the man he hadn't seen in years.

Vincent Cole.

Vincent and Tucker were always head to head in law school, the two were at the top of their class, and were each other's toughest competition. They had a very intense rivalry going on through most of their time in school.

Eventually, when they were nearing graduation, the two were paired up together in a project and safe to say, they kicked ass. They had a fun time working together as well, even though it wasn't nearly as fun as being against each other. The two graduated on somewhat decent terms because of the project, but Tuck straightened his back, feeling a little tense almost immediately once he laid eyes on his former nemesis.