Force: A Driven World Novel (The Driven World)

were bad at home and Tuck would try to shut me out. When he needed me but didn’t know how to tell me because he was embarrassed about the way his father would act. When he would try to push me away because he only knew how to process things on his own.
I hated that look when we were kids. I hate it even more now.
“Everything okay here, Brooke?” I feel the bulk of Rafferty as he comes to stand at my back. Hostility radiates from him, but I can’t drag my eyes away from the man in front of me. The air around us turns arctic as the two guys stare at each other.
“I’m fine. Tucker and I are...” My voice trails off without finishing that thought because, what are we? How do you describe what the love of your life is to you when you haven’t seen him in years? There is it again, the stark reminder that whatever we once were died long ago.
A hard scowl wraps around Tucker’s features, and his nostrils flare as he breathes out a dark, derisive scoff. His eyes, filled with disdain, flick down to meet mine at the same time I feel Rafferty move so his chest is touching my back.
“We’re nothing, Brooke. Absolutely nothing. Enjoy your date,” he sneers, giving Rafferty a dirty look.
And then he’s gone. All I can do is watch as he walks away from me, this time only hurting a little less than it did ten years ago.

CHAPTER SEVEN
TUCKER
White hot shafts of sunlight stab through my closed eyes. “What the fuck?” I grumble to myself, my voice a harsh rasp. I haven’t even moved yet, and I already feel like I’m about to lose the contents of my stomach.
Fuck.
Cold sweat clings to my skin as I battle to stop the room from spinning. A waft of coffee hits me, and that’s all it takes for my arid mouth to fill with saliva. Throwing back the sheet, I’m on my feet and ready to run to the bathroom. It takes my sleep-addled brain way too long to process the fact that I have no idea where I am.
I’m not in my bedroom.
I’m not even in my own fucking house.
Taking a chance, I push open the first door I see, sending up a silent prayer that I'm not about to throw up in some stranger’s closet. Sweet relief hits me when I find it’s an empty bathroom.
Ten minutes later, I finally feel semi-human. Getting dressed and cleaned up as best as I can, I follow the smell of bacon coming from down the hallway, my stomach churning more and more with every step. I’ve got zero desire to stick around here and face up to the mistake I obviously made last night, so I swerve through the kitchen and head straight for the door.
“Really? You’re not even going to say ‘bye?” The unimpressed voice sounds from behind me as my hand hits the door handle. So much for making a quick escape. I’m tempted to just ignore her and keep walking, but even I’m not that much of an asshole.
“We’re not doing this, Karlyn,” I tell her, biting back the frustration I feel starting to burn inside.
“Doing what exactly?” she spits, her usually pretty face scrunched in annoyance. “Having basic manners?”
“This”—I wave a hand between us to indicate what I’m talking about—“whatever the fuck happened last night was a mistake.” Karlyn is an ... ex of mine for lack of a better word. Not that she was ever a girlfriend as such; she was more of the friends-with-benefits type, but that never stopped her from trying her hardest to stake a claim on me. I finally managed to scrape her off a few months ago, but obviously I was so fucked up last night, I’ve somehow let her think she’s back in.
“Whatever happened?” she seethes, voice dropping dangerously low as she steps closer in my direction. “You ignore me for months, Tucker. You don’t answer a single text or a single fucking call—” She waves the knife in her hand in my direction, and that’s my cue to get the hell out of here.
“I told you months ago that we were done.” The words feel like grit in my mouth. I’m pissed that I even have to tell her this again.
“Didn’t seem like it when you were sticking your dick in me last night,” she fires back, the words hitting me like fucking bullets. Shame sits heavy on my shoulders. It was kind of obvious from the fact I woke up naked in her bed, but hearing her say the words has my chest feeling like it’s just taken a solid punch.
I was a wreck last night after seeing Brooke. No matter how much I drank, I couldn’t get the image of her fear-filled face out of my mind. She was scared of me. I can live with her hating me; I can live with anything but the fear I saw last night.
“Just because I took what was on offer, doesn’t mean anything else is going to happen between us.” I need to get out of here. The walls feel like they’re closing in on me. I can’t believe I fucked up this bad. Opening the door, I don’t waste any more time arguing with her. I had to learn the hard way once before that the only way to get through to this woman is to ignore her. “Lose my number,” I declare.
“You’re going to end up a lonely old man, Tucker Neal.” I don’t know what is worse, her anger from earlier or the pity I see in her eyes now. If a viper like Karlyn feels sorry for me, I’m in worse shape than I realized.
Fuck this. I need to clear my head before I lose my mind. Letting the door slam behind me, I don’t bother to wait for the elevator, heading straight for the stairs instead. I call a cab as