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

Because he had paid for a holiday or two and should now feel guilty? It was absurd.

Worse too that it suggested what Sherman had always suspected: that Bradley thought he was settling.

For how aware Sherman was of how much better-looking Bradley was than he, Bradley was even more aware of it. He absolutely relished in it. Ever since Europe, he’d made it clear that he knew he could do better than Sherman. It was just so obvious in the way he acted – he didn’t even want Sherman at first! Seeing him as only a friend, because he knew he could do better.

Maybe that was why Sherman always spent so much money to please Bradley? He needed a way to keep some sort of power in their relationship. If he didn’t have that, then what did he have?

That day, day six, was a particularly dark day for Sherman. It was the day when he first really considered that maybe, just maybe, he and Bradley were done for. There was no way he was calling to apologize. That ship had sailed. Now it was on Bradley and frankly, he didn’t think that Bradley had it in him.

Needless to say, by the time day seven rolled around, Sherman had been through the equivalent of an emotional rollercoaster. He'd showered maybe three times. He’d eaten his body weight in food twice as many times as that. The apartment was a mess, the whole place stunk of only God knew what, and Sherman was one low moment away from finally breaking.

Thus, when Nick turned up unannounced on Sherman’s doorstep, it came with a serious sense of relief. Sherman hadn’t realized how much he needed human contact until it was staring him in the face... looking rather disturbed, in all honesty.

“What the ever-loving fu —”

“Nick!” Sherman threw himself at Nick and pulled the man into a warm embrace... or at least he tried. Nick was significantly bigger than Sherman, and at the sight of his little, smelly friend coming for him, Nick stuck out a hand and pushed him out of the way.

“Maybe a shower before we engage in bodily contact.” He poked his head gingerly into the apartment and curled his nose at what he saw. “Should we just burn the whole thing down and start again? Good God, man.” He pulled his head back out and fixed Sherman with a look of utmost pity. “I’ve met bums that wouldn’t sleep in there, mate.”

“Bradley and I had a fight.” Sherman bowed his head in shame. “It’s bad.”

“Mate.” Nick tilted his head to the side and fixed Sherman with a look of such despondence that for a moment, Sherman thought he was going to cry himself. “I’m sorry.” He then reached out and wrapped his arms around Sherman in a warm embrace.

It caught Sherman by surprise, but a moment later and he allowed himself to be pulled into a full-on proper hug; arms wrapped around him like a big security blanket. It was the first bit of human contact he’d had in seven days and fuck he had needed it. There were no tears or anything like that. It was just a good, long hug. Very much needed.

After that, Sherman led Nick into his apartment. He opened the curtains, and then the windows, and then turned on all the fans just to sort of kick start the exodus of stench from the place. Then, he ducked into the bathroom and took a quick shower, even going so far as to clean himself twice. It was only once he had seen Nick that he realized how dirty he was.

By the time Sherman was done in the shower, dried and dressed, Nick had gone a long way toward cleaning the apartment. It actually wasn’t that dirty, there were just a lot of empty food box, plates and glasses. Sometimes, things aren’t as bad as they seem.

“Thanks for that.” Sherman strolled into the now clean kitchen dressed in an old bathrobe and his favorite pair of Ugg boots; it wasn’t even that cold, but he needed the extra comfort. He was the most relaxed he’d felt all week.

“No problemo.” Nick waved him down as he finished cleaning the last of the dirty dishes. The rest were stacked in drying racks by the sink, and even the benches had been wiped down. Sherman had had no idea how domesticated Nick was.

“Someone’s trained you,” he joked.

Nick shrugged. “The life of a bachelor, my friend.” A brief pause as if considering what this really meant. “Not something I would recommend.”

Sherman scoffed. “Are you kidding me? You fucking love it.”

Nick shrugged again. “Sometimes I do.” He then winked and grinned... only for his grin to fade, and for his tone to become all serious. “Sometimes I don’t. Lately... more often than not.” Finished with the dishes, he sat himself at the bench opposite Sherman. “So.” He was smiling now, back to his usual cheery self. “What happened – and don’t say it was just some dumb fight. I already know it was.”

Despite himself, Sherman chuckled. He hadn’t done that in days. “It was though – just some dumb fight —”

“What did I just say!” Nick cried and wrung his hands in the air in exaggeration. He then calmed down, and fixed Sherman with a more serious expression. “Anything that can’t be fixed?”

“Truthfully? No.”

“So...?” Nick raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to fix it? Or am I coming around next week to do the dishes again?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

Sherman sighed as he met Nick’s eyes. Why wasn’t it that simple? God, there were so many reasons. But Sherman didn’t feel like getting into them again. He’d spent the last week doing that and it had nearly killed him.

“It’s just not,” was all Sherman was willing to give.

Thank God too that this was