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

Sally exhaled her relief. “Good, good. Because the neighbors are an elderly couple that are very particular about their peace and quiet – they've been known to call the police on multiple occasions.”

“Sound like charmers.”

Sally grimaced. “They are my bane – but you also said that he probably won’t be here too often, yes?” she looked hopeful, her big blue eyes pleading for him to say yes. “So, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

“No, not too often at all I hope.” Sherman walked through the living room, delighting in the sound of the hard wooden floors under his heels. It echoed through the empty room and into the adjoining kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. “I’m thinking of this as more a storage space than anything else.”

“Heck of a nice storage space.” Sally straightened her back and her face took on a more serious expression. “Recently renovated, connected to the NBN – did I show you the water pressure. The shower could peel your skin off if you were so inclined.” She made to hurry toward the bathroom.

“Easy,” Sherman chuckled. “You’ve made the sale. Don’t ruin it now, Sally. You did so well – assuming that our little, ah... deal, is still on the table?”

Sally tilted her head from one side to the other as if considering. “I think it will be fine – but legally, he has to still sign the papers to agree to it? If he does that, then yes, yes, it is.”

“He’ll sign them.” Sherman made his way to the living room window. The view was of the front street, just a regular Sydney-city suburb, made up mainly of old townhouses with a few trees sprinkled in for a bit of nature. “And I’ll fax them right over.”

“Fax?” Sally frowned. She was in her early twenties, so she either didn’t know what a fax was, or didn’t use one.

“I’ll email them,” Sherman corrected. “Today. As soon as I pick him up, I’ll get him to sign and then —”

“Presto!” Sally clapped her hands together and smiled. “And then you are in – or he is. Either way, congratulations on the new place. If I do say so myself, it is a very, very nice choice.”

“Yeah...” Sherman did another look about the large single bedroom apartment. It was reasonably modern, with more than enough space for one person. Honestly, it was more than any twenty-five-year-old could have hoped for. “... it is, isn’t it?”

Today was going to be a good day. Fuck, it was going to be a great day if Sherman had anything to say about it.

It started with this apartment, just now rented by Sherman, for Bradley. With Bradley moving to Sydney, he was going to need his own place and where Sherman had pitched the idea of them just biting the bullet and living together, he also knew that wasn’t a real option. Bradley would need somewhere to get away from Sherman at least once a week – twice on those bad weeks – and this would do nicely.

There was a slight catch, however. Sydney was expensive, and this apartment was especially so. Located in the up-and-coming Inner West, it was impossible to find something in Bradley’s price range that wasn’t an absolute dive. Sherman had tried to explain this to Bradley, who had then claimed he didn’t mind living in a dive. He was a struggling actor, after all. Well, Bradley might not have minded, but Sherman did.

“Can you at least let me find you a place,” Sherman had asked when Bradley refused to budge on his budget. “I know Sydney pretty well, so I might get lucky.”

“You’re welcome to look,” Bradley had agreed after some prodding and poking. “But you’re not to sign anything – I get the last say, got it?”

“Loud and clear.”

Sherman had listened, but that didn’t mean he was going to obey. Bradley was being silly, he decided, so he wasn’t worth listening to anyway. Rather, Sherman came up with a plan that he thought was ingenious.

Basically, he was going to help Bradley find a nice apartment, regardless of the cost. Then he was going to talk to the realtor and convince them to allow for him to pay the difference in the rent, personally from his own account. The realtor was through the same company he rented his current place too, so it was actually rather easy to just tack the extra price onto his own apartment. This way, Bradley would have a nice place to live in, one that he could in no way afford, but not know about it. It was perfect.

The second reason today was going to be a good day was that finally, after nearly two whole months of planning and waiting, Bradley was flying into Sydney.

Sherman finished at the new apartment a few moments later and then headed straight for the airport. He had insisted on the airport pick-up and had been surprised when Bradley tried for the ‘It’s fine, I’ll just get the train,’ line. The two men were officially dating now, so an airport pick-up was all part of the deal.

He flew in at 11am, which had him walking out of the airport to the pick-up area at about 11:30am. He had three very large suitcases with him, another back-pack stuffed to the brim and the biggest darn smile that Sherman had ever seen.

“Hey, hot stuff,” Sherman crooned at the sight of him. Fuck, he always forgot just how sexy his boyfriend was; tall, chiseled in all the right places, and just classically handsome from the face down to the toes. “Need a ride.”

“It’s fine.” Bradley dumped his bags by the car. “I have someone picking me up – a real fine piece of ass, too.” He looked up and down the road, as if hoping to spot