Only You Jerry Cole (ebooks children's books free txt) 📖

But there was a problem and it was one that had begun to haunt Bradley on his second day on the yacht.

When Bradley had first met Sherman, he’d assumed they’d never see one another again. As such, he had slightly over exaggerated his career... and by slightly, he meant that he had outright lied. He was an actor, which wasn't the lie; the lie was how successful he was.

He had made it out like he was a big-time actor with all this money and fame and success, when in fact the complete opposite was true. Fuck, when Sherman had found him, Bradley was in the cheapest hotel in Lisbon trying to barter for a room.

At first, Bradley was happy to take advantage of Sherman’s generosity too. He had offered after all, and from what he told Bradley, he made plenty of money. But that was a week ago and a lot had changed...

Bradley slowly found himself liking Sherman. Fuck, he really liked him and with every passing minute, with every bottle of expensive liquor drunk, or new hidden cove explored, or suggestion that they stay even longer, Bradley felt worse and worse. He had to tell Sherman the truth before he flew home... he just didn’t know how.

“Say...” Sherman started slowly. He was sipping on his coffee and typing away on his laptop. If Bradley seemed a little worried or nervous, Sherman gave no indication that he could tell. “... what are you doing in November?”

“Huh — November?” Bradley blinked. He had been so lost in his own paranoia that it took him a few moments to catch up with the question. “I don’t — probably eating at one point?” he joked.

“I thought so,” Sherman responded seriously. “Cause, I was thinking... how’d you feel about eating in Bali at one point?”

“Bali? What?”

Sherman was trying to hide his smile, but failing miserably. “I was just – I have to go to Bali the first week of November, for business. But I only need to be there a day or two. I’ve never really hung out in Bali before and figured...” He paused, waiting for Bradley to pick up on what he was saying.

“You want to know what kind of post card to send me?” Bradley joked. He knew where this was going, but he desperately hoped he was wrong.

Sherman rolled his eyes. “Come to Bali with me.” He put the laptop down and sat up, reaching forward as he did and taking Bradley’s hands in his. He was excited now and began to speak quickly. “We haven’t really spoken about what’s going to happen after – and I’m not saying anything like that – fuck. I mean, I’m not saying that we need to date or stay in – you know what I mean,” he exhaled and took a deep breath. “I’m starting to sound like a crazy person.”

“You’re not.”

“I am, but that’s Okay. I’ve had a good time this week – a great time.”

“Me too.” Bradley gave Sherman’s hands a squeeze. He thought about kissing them too, but didn’t, only because he was going to have to turn his offer down and didn’t want to get his hopes up too much.

“And I want to have another good time – not like that.” He took a deep breath in an effort to center himself. “Come to Bali with me. Like I said, we haven’t spoken about what’s going to happen after... if we’re even going to stay in contact.”

“Of course we are!”

“Then prove it. Book a trip to Bali. Meet me there. Make this week seem small scale by comparison. Make me actually look forward to leaving Europe because it means that I’ll be one step closer to going to Bali... with you?”

Sherman’s body was shaking he was so damn excited. His eyes also sparkled and the smile he wore was as big a one as Bradley had ever seen... and Bradley hated to see it.

"I can’t go to Bali,” he said softly and pulled his hands free.

“How come?” Sherman demanded.

“I’ve... I’ve got to tell you something.” He spoke into his chest and refused to look into Sherman’s eyes. “About who I am.”

A pause. “Oh?”

“When we met... I was in a bad place.”

“The gutter?” Sherman joked.

“No — well, yes. But that’s not what I meant.” Bradley took a deep breath and forced himself to look at Sherman. That only made it harder. “I’m not an actor – I am but... what I mean is, I may have... all the stuff I told you about the roles that I’ve had...”

“Soap opera stuff,” Sherman confirmed.

“Yeah. That and plays and... well getting steady work, to be honest. I may have... there’s a chance that I... I’m not quite as successful as I might have – why are you smiling?”

Sherman was smiling at Bradley. And not just smiling, but almost laughing. His body shook from withheld laughter and his lips were pressed tightly together to stop himself from beaming. “I’m not.”

“You are!”

“All right, I am.” He held his hands up in defense. “But only because you get so cute when you’re nervous.”

“Cute? Did you not just hear what I said?”

“Every word.”

“And?” Now he was a little angry. Why wasn’t Sherman taking this seriously?

Sherman reached forward and took Bradley’s hands again. He gave them a squeeze and kissed the back of them. “My dear, sweet, innocent Bradley Miles. Do you really think I hadn’t figured that out yet? Seriously – what do you take me for?”

Bradley’s stomach dropped through the floor and sunk into the ocean. “You... you had?”

“Of course!” Sherman shook his head to himself as if to say, ‘come on.’ “You’re aware that the internet exists, right? Plus – and this is a big one. I saw you begging for