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

Since the day that Sherman had revealed how much money he actually made, he’d deigned to flaunt it in front of Bradley. In Europe, Bradley was fine with this. He was a different man back then and only too happy to be doted on in such a lavish way. In Bali too, it had been a little harder to stomach, but he’d put up with it because it had made Sherman happy.

But this was different. This was... if there was one thing that annoyed Bradley more than anything, it was Sherman using his wealth to assert his power over him. It made him feel weak and small and powerless in their relationship. It made Bradley feel as if he owed Sherman his love. Since Covid, Bradley had assumed things had changed, especially seeing as Sherman stopped working. It seemed as if nothing had changed.

The drugs, Bradley could handle. The attitude, he could deal with. Even the moping, and self-pity, and the self-victimization was something that Bradley would have been willing to work through with Sherman because he knew that it was just a phase. But this? This was a pill far too bitter for Bradley to swallow.

“I think you should leave.” He spoke softly and into his chest, refusing to look at Sherman.

“Kicking me out of my own apartment?” Sherman scoffed. “At least half of it, anyway.”

“I think you should leave,” Bradley spoke again, just as softly.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Sherman turned and started across the room and toward the front door. Bradley could hear his footsteps but didn’t look up. When he reached the door, and it opened, Bradley heard him come to a stop before he said, “You’re mad at me. But when you’re tucked in tonight, warm and safe with a roof over your head. Please remember who put it there.” The door slammed closed and he was gone.

And as for Bradley? When Sherman was finally gone, and he was alone in the apartment for good? He collapsed on the floor and wept. He might have done so for an hour. It might have lasted well into the night. He had no idea, and he didn’t care either.

Bradley had never hurt so much before in his life.

***

The first night in that apartment, alone, was impossible.

It just didn’t feel right. The apartment, that is. It was cold, and empty and had the feeling of never being lived in. Bradley tried to tell himself that he was in the right, that he had to stay put until Sherman called and apologized for all he had done... but that apartment made it tough.

Forget trying to sleep. Bradley didn’t even like turning all the lights off.  Doing so only seemed to emphasize how empty the apartment was. He felt like a stranger in his own place.

But he refused to call Sherman. That, he simply could not do. Sherman was the one in the wrong. Sherman was the one who paid his rent without telling him. Sherman was the one who then used that to try and bring Bradley down. And worst of all, Sherman was the one who had resorted to drug smuggling as a means to support his habit. It was all Sherman, so it was on him to apologize.

After that first night, Bradley knew he couldn’t stay in that apartment for any longer. But Sherman was also being frustratingly stubborn, clearly expecting Bradley to be the one to come crawling back. It was typical, controlling Sherman at his best. Well, not today!

It was lucky then that the state borders had recently opened back up, with the Covid lockdown restrictions easing. For the first time in months, Bradley was able to fly back to Melbourne, his first home. And so, he did.

“My gorgeous baby boy!” The moment Bradley walked through the front door to his mother’s house, she had him in a bear hug the likes of which he hadn’t had since, well, the last time he saw her.

“Csbt brjfnvgth!” Bradley tried, although the way his mother held him made speaking nearly impossible.

“What was that dear?”

The moment she released him, Bradley took a huge breath of fresh air. “Can’t... breath...” he managed through large gulps of air.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic.” She waved Bradley down and rolled her eyes at him as if she wasn’t well over six foot in height and weighed nearly twice as much as him... which she did. “But I am glad you’re back – not that you gave me much warning, mind you!”

With his mother calming down and taking a step back, Bradley was able to look around his old house for the first time in months. He had wondered what it would feel like, coming back like this. If it would feel odd, or not like home.

“It’s good to be back,” he said. And it was the truth too.

Sherman was an infinitely stubborn man. Even more so than Bradley. It might take him days to finally cough up the nerve and reach out to Bradley. It might even take him a week! If Bradley was going to be waiting that long, he might as well do it at home.

So, the morning after their fight, Bradley packed a single suitcase – truth be told, he could barely even fill it as almost all his things were at Sherman’s — bought the first flight he could get on to Melbourne, gave his mother a very brief call, and flew home.

“So, how long are you back for?” his mother asked as she herded him through the house and toward his old bedroom. As was typical of her, she carried his suitcase, lifting it under her arm like it were nothing.

“Why? Have the room booked out to someone else, do you?”

“Just asking!” she cried and then slapped at Bradley’s arm. “I’m your mother. I