Nothing But Hate

Chapter Twenty Six

After a few minutes, absentmindedly, Tucker ended up in front of a familiar building. And soon enough, in front of a familiar door. He rung the bell, patiently waiting for the man to open up.

"Hey." Callum said, as he opened the door.

"Hi." Tucker replied, with his hands in his pockets as he awkwardly stood at the door. Callum moved aside, giving Tucker the space to come in, and the lawyer gladly took the invitation.

Callum looked at Tucker questioningly, and Tucker knew why. The man had called Tuck a couple of times ever since their night at the hotel, but Tucker either didn't pick up, or when he did he was always in a rush and said he couldn't talk and would call back. But he never did.

Tucker felt a bit guilty. For the first time, he wasn't actively trying to avoid Callum, it was just that the case had been taking up all his time. He didn't want to leave a single stone unturned, and didn't want anything to distract him either.

Tucker walked closer to Callum, pressing their lips together without a single word. Callum responded immediately, kissing Tuck back with equal passion. But once Callum noticed Tucker's rushed movements, and how uncoordinated and flushed he seemed as the lawyer tried to unbotton his shirt, Callum put his hands over Tucker's, stopping him and taking a step back.

"What's wrong?" Callum asked.

"What? Nothing." Tucker answered, stepping closer to Callum to kiss him again but the blonde man stopped him by putting a hand on his chest.

"You don't.. you don't seem like yourself. Something's clearly up and I'm not doing anything with you until I know you're okay." Callum said sternly.

"Why? I want to fuck you. And I know you want to fuck me. So, let's do it." Tucker urged.

"I've told you countless times that I don't just want to fuck you. I want more. And that includes making sure that you're fine." Callum furrowed his brows.

"Are you sure?" Tucker asked, as he unbottoned his own shirt slowly. Callum knew what Tucker was trying to do, as his eyes wandered to the man's tattooed chest and abdomen. Tucker watched as Callum took a deep breath in, making the man smirk.

"It's not going to work," Callum said after a moment, his eyes now back up to look at Tucker's face, "Button up, and come with me."

Callum walked away without another word. Tucker sighed, before buttoning up his shirt and following Callum to what seemed like the living room. Callum motioned Tucker to take a seat on the couch, before heading up to the minibar.

"Scotch okay?" Callum asked.

"Scotch is perfect." Tucker replied. Callum nodded and poured the two of them a drink. He handed the glass to Tucker, before sitting beside him on the couch. The two men raised their glasses slightly at each other, and took a sip.

The only expensive thing that Tucker could ever truly appreciate was good alcohol. And this was some great stuff. So much so, that it almost made up for the fact that he wasn't naked with Callum in his bedroom right now.

"You can tell me what's going on," Callum paused for a moment, "Or not."

Tucker looked at the man, who was looking back at him with a sincere expression on his face. Tuck took another sip, before telling Callum everything that was going on.

He started with his father's accident at work, to how the case was never resolved. Eventually, he told Callum why he had to go to the police precinct at the middle of the night. Callum listened carefully as Tucker told him about the case, not giving any details that he wasn't allowed to, of course.

It was clear how much the case meant to Tucker. And how much it had been adversely affecting him. The bags under his eyes were visible, and so was the tiredness in his speech. Tucker didn't really know how and why he ended up going to Callum, but he would only be lying if he said he didn't feel a tad bit better now, especially after his rant was done.

"—I just need to dig deeper now. Get to the bottom of this alibi bullshit," Tucker sighed, "I know I'm biased here but trust me. I just.. I just know he's behind it. My gut is screaming at me and it has never been wrong before. Not when it comes to work, atleast."

"I trust you," Callum said softly, "If you need any help.. and I'm not saying this because I don't think you're capable of doing this on your own because I know that you are. But still, if there's anything that I can do then know that I'll do it."

"Thank you," Tucker meant it, "I just need to clear my head so that I can think more objectively."

"Got it," Callum said, as he got up from the couch, "You haven't had dinner, yeah? Let's go make something. Nobody can think on an empty stomach."

Callum extended his hand forward, Tucker looked at it for a moment, and then at Callum's face. He stared at the smile the man was wearing, before returning the expression and taking his hand.

***

I uploaded a chapter a few hours back as well, so make sure you didn't miss out that one!!

also, my other completed book, Under A Paper Moon has reached 100k views and I'm super pumped! I promised my partner I'd let them read it once it reached 100k lol so that's something else to look forward to this weekend.