Only You by Jerry Cole (the top 100 crime novels of all time TXT) 📕

This was their second call of the week, which is why it wasn’t on a Friday night. Funny too that they had nothing new to talk about. Really, Bradley just wanted to hear his voice.

It was so odd, this little tryst he had going with Sherman. From their physical appearance, to where they lived, to their personalities in general, the two men were just so darn different. But none of that seemed to matter. It had been nearly two months since Bradley had arrived home and not once had he considered straying —

His phone suddenly vibrated, but not with a call. It was a text message from Jackson. Seeing his ex’s name pop up like that had Bradley laughing to himself, shaking his head and then deleting the text without reading it. That’s right, Bradley didn’t even care what Jackson said, let alone care to respond. This wasn’t the first time his ex had messaged in the last month, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

Bradley was a changed man in every conceivable facet. From the new place to the new attitude when it came to work, to his dismissal of an ex he literally travelled halfway around the world for, there was nothing about Bradley that one would recognize from a month ago. And the reason for this? Well, just then his name popped up on Bradley’s phone screen and Bradley answered with a smile.

“Hey, hot stuff,” he said.

“Now, I know you don’t mean me,” Sherman said on the other end of the line.

“Oh — shit.” Bradley pretended to act panicked. “That was for the guy leaving my room – close the door on the way out!” he shouted off the phone, as if there was someone in the room.

“Funny,” Sherman drawled. “How was he?”

“A dud,” Bradley sighed. “I don’t know why I waste my time.”

“Especially when you’ve got a stud like me waiting for you.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself.”

It was all smiles as Bradley lay back on his bed, got himself comfortable, and chatted to Sherman. Realistically, he wouldn’t be moving from that spot for at least an hour... maybe two. Not that it mattered either, as there was nowhere in the world he would rather be right now... except maybe actually with the man he was speaking to. But that would come.

A lot had changed for Bradley in the past month, and he was undoubtedly a better person for it. But even with all the personal changes to his life, his growing relationship with Sherman was far and away the best change of the lot. On paper the two men might have been as different as stars and stripes, but together they were perfect for one another.

And even better? Or rather, what made this ridiculous long-distance situation bearable, and kept Bradley from tearing his own hair out with frustration? Their trip to Bali together was just around the corner...

Chapter Ten

Sherman just wanted the meeting to end. That’s all. He wanted Dewi, the Indonesian Sales Representative, to suddenly clap his hands together, smile for the small group of people crammed into an even smaller meeting room, and tell them that he was all done and that they could leave. Was that really too much to ask?

Apparently, it was. As it currently stood, Dewi was in the middle of giving a very in-depth PowerPoint presentation – one that had already been going on for thirty-one whole minutes – and judging from the stack of accompanying notes he had balanced in his right hand as he spoke, it had at least another thirty or so to go... probably even more.

“I had some fun times with the numbers yesterday,” Dewi explained as he pulled up a table-chart, comprising eight columns of different colors, running at varying lengths. Each had a series of numbers running up their sides, with little asterixis beside the numbers that designated more notes at the bottom of the screen. On a good day, Sherman probably could have deciphered the graphs meaning. Today, it was gibberish. “What I have done here is project the saved cost per person if we switch from imported rice to local – and I know, I know we already agreed we would not. But I thought it would be fun to crunch the numbers anyway...”

Surely, Dewi was making his presentation extra dense and meaningless of purpose? Surely, he knew what it was doing to Sherman? That seemed the only logical explanation.

It was Sherman’s third day in a row, in a meeting just like this one. If it wasn’t Dewi, it was Carol, Head of Tourism. And if it wasn’t Carol, it was Marcus, their HR representative. And if not Marcus, it was Venka, or Johnny or any of the heads of departments that were at these meetings for the duration of the three days. They all had something to add, and they all made sure to do so in as long and drawn out a means as possible.

And as for Sherman? Technically, this entire process was for his benefit. He had come here specifically to hear them out so that he could sign off at the end of the three days. Although that time was drawing closer and closer, as it currently stood, he would have signed his name to just about anything if it meant getting the heck out of there.

“Mr. Haas?” Dewi had stopped speaking, his attention turned entirely on Sherman. He looked at him with wide, expectant eyes as if he’d just asked a question and was awaiting an answer.

Indeed, the rest of the room were doing the same, all eyes on him, all waiting patiently.

“Ah... yeah, for sure. Sounds good.” He had no idea what he was agreeing to.

Whatever it was, it seemed to be the right answer. The rest of the room sighed their relief collectively and Dewi went back to