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

be,” Nick assured him. “It’s not your fault that the marketing team are a bunch of useless cucks.”

“I hired them” Sherman pointed out.

Sherman’s office was one befitting of his position in the company... and maybe even a little bit better than that. DreamLine Travel was located on the twentieth floor of a building that sat in the middle of the city, with Sherman’s office occupying the corner of that floor. It was one of those offices that had windows instead of walls, which wrapped themselves around the room so as to show off the truly spectacular view. Sherman barely even noticed it anymore.

They reached Sherman’s office and where Sherman went straight for his seat, Nick froze in the doorway. “Oh... well, maybe it is your fault then — but enough of that.” He waved the idea away and took one long stride into Sherman’s office. “Looky here.” He pulled his phone out and handed it to Sherman.

Sherman eyed the phone cautiously, but then reached out and took it. On the phone was the dating app Grindr, with the picture of a very handsome Latino looking man taking up most of the screen. He was shirtless, showing off a set of ridiculously chiseled abs while staring down the camera as if to say ‘Yeah... you like them, don’t you?’

Sherman eyed the photo for a moment too long, then handed the phone back to Nick with a shake of his head. “All right. Who’s that?”

“That is Pablo,” Nick said proudly as he pocketed the phone. “And he’s going to have dinner with you tonight... and then fuck you. Isn’t that exciting.”

Sherman didn’t even blink. “Is that right?”

“Right.” Nick crossed his arms and looked down at Sherman like he was a proud father taking his son out for his first beer. “And you, my friend, are welcome – Oh! Do you want to see his penis? Here!” Nick hurried to pull his phone out again.

“I’ll pass.”

Nick paused. “What?! How can you —”

“I don’t know why you go on those apps. It’s weird.”

“Weird? Mate, its’ the 21st Century. How else are you supposed to meet someone? You’re weird for not going on them.”

“I don’t mean — I mean you, a straight man, going on Grindr. It’s... odd.”

“I do it for you!” Nick protested. “I know you suck at dating. And I know you’re shy and all that crap. But I also know that you secretly want a good dicking —”

“You told him who I was?” Sherman asked flatly.

“Like what you did? Obviously.”

“So, he knows how much money I make?” Sherman continued.

“Well... I mean, he could probably figure it out?” Nick shrugged. “One of the photos I uploaded was of your apartment... and your car.”

Sherman sighed. “I’m fine, thanks,” he offered as he turned on his computer, hoping this would be enough to get rid of his eager friend.

“Oh, come on.” Nick sat himself on the edge of the desk. “So what if he wants to fuck you for your money – do you know how many guys that would not phase at all? Do you want to get another look at Pablo – I mean, I’m straight and I’d probably put him away. God damn.”

Sherman was about to answer. He was about to tell Nick that he didn’t give a shit how hot Pablo was, or how long it had been since he’d been on a date, or how lonely and desperate he was... but then he caught sight of his reflection in his laptop screen and he paused.

Now, to be fair, Sherman wasn’t ugly. No, he certainly wasn’t that. Rather, he was just very plain. Standing at about 5’8” and with a typical skinny frame, his figure left a lot to be desired. And where he was a fan of his dark eyes and big white teeth, that was where it ended for Sherman. His face was too round, his cheek-bones non-existent and his lips a little too thin for his liking. Sherman wasn’t ugly, but he wasn’t a down and out hottie either.

To make matters worse, every guy Sherman had ever been with seemed to only ever be doing so because of how much money Sherman made. It was a lot, in short. He had worked hard through his twenties and now at thirty-five, he was reaping the rewards. But all that hard work meant little play, which meant little dating experience, which meant now Sherman was stuck meeting men through dating apps, which meant telling them what he did, which meant being used for his money. It was a vicious cycle.

A part of Sherman wished he were the kind of guy who could just fuck men for fun and leave it at that. But he never had been, despite how much Nick might have wanted it to be so. And as such, he was doomed to be alone for the foreseeable future. Maybe, one day, he would meet someone who liked him for him... but that day was looking rather far off at the moment.

“I’ve got to get to work,” Sherman said dismissively. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Fiiiiiiine,” Nick sighed as he stood up and lumbered toward the door. About to leave, he turned back and said one final thing. His expression and tone were oddly serious. “Seeing as you have no interest in hooking up, ever, maybe you should be the one going on that trip. Someone may as well get something out of it.” A tight-lipped smile and Nick was gone.

Sherman didn’t give too much thought to Nick’s comment. In fact, he tried not to give too much thought to Nick in general. He was still a little peeved over his attempted set-up and wanted to push him, and that incident, from his mind entirely.

The rest of the day was spent by Sherman, locked away in his office, crunching the numbers