Day glanced down at him with an almost-there smile. “I almost forgot how short you are.”

Onyx narrowed his eyes at the man. “I’m not short, asshole.”

“Hey,” Day said, crossing his arms over his chest with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t get to have an attitude. You’re over an hour late and I called you like… four times, and you didn’t answer a single call.”

“I overslept,” Onyx excused. “And I didn’t see your calls. Even if I did, I’m not obligated to answer them. Now, where’s the money you promised me?”

“You have no shame, do you?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured that out by now. Then again, I don’t really have any reason to hold you to such high standards, do I?”

“That’s rich coming from you."

“Mhm…” Onyx hummed. “Speaking of rich…”

Day rolled his eyes and gestured for him to follow him inside. “You could at least say “hi” before you go acting like a blatant gold digger.”

“Playing coy isn’t exactly my thing,” Onyx said and frowned a bit when Day pulled out a chair for him and gestured for him to sit. “I’m not your girlfriend.”

Day couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Just sit down, Onyx. I’m just being nice.”

Onyx did as he was told, albeit a bit hesitantly. Only then did he truly think to look around and admire the place. While the interior of the house didn’t beat the exterior, it wasn’t any less polished. The dining room was elegant, the kitchen huge, and the living room was as big as a large classroom with a marble fireplace in the center which gave that section of the house a more homey sort of feel. Massive windows helped the house shine with natural lighting and the more Onyx looked at all of it, the more his blatant envy grew.

“Do you like the place?” Day asked as he took the seat just to the right of Onyx. 

“Yeah,” Onyx murmured, still transfixed by his oddly different surroundings. “I like it a lot actually.”

“Didn’t expect that sort of answer from you. Thanks.” Day smiled and reached into his back pocket to set a one hundred dollar bill in front of him.

Onyx glanced at the presented money with a frown. “You said a thousand.”

“I didn’t say you’d get it all at once,” Day shrugged. “I have a proposal for you. You get one hundred dollars for every individual date you go on with me. Simple enough, right?”

Onyx’s frown deepened. “Wait, date?”

Day only nodded. 

“I told you I’m not gay.”

“If you’re not gay, then why am I your soulmate?”

“Because this world is full of mysteries and it fucks up every now and then,” Onyx huffed, throwing his hands into the air in annoyance. “And whether I’m gay or not, it doesn’t matter. I have a girlfriend.”

Day paused at that. “A girlfriend?”

“Yeah, so are we done having this conversation?”

Day thought for a moment before he spoke up again and his words couldn’t have caught Onyx more off guard if he had deliberately tried. “Have you two had sex before?”

Onyx’s eyebrows furrowed. “How’s that any of your business?”

Day shrugged with a slight smirk. “I’m just saying there’s always the possibility that you’re confused about your sexuality. Just because you’re dating a girl doesn’t mean you’re sexually attracted to her. Or maybe you’re attracted to both?” 

Onyx stood from his seat as he felt his face begin to heat up dramatically and thanked the lucky stars it wasn’t visible. “Fuck you. There’s no deal.”

“Wait!” He inwardly groaned when he felt Day grab onto his arm preventing his otherwise hasty escape. “I’ll rephrase then. I’ll give you a hundred dollars for every time you… hang out with me. It won’t be a date. It’ll just be two friends hanging out together.”

“I’m not your friend.”

Day worried his bottom lip with his teeth. “Okay… then two strangers getting to know each other. Just think about it, Onyx. It won’t be a burden on your part. If we’re being realistic here, you’re the one benefitting the most from this exchange.”

Onyx turned to face him with eyes narrowed in scrutinization. “We’d be just hanging out? There won’t be any flirting, sexual innuendos, or comments about me being ‘confused about my sexuality’ at all, right?”

Day sighed. “Yeah. We’d be just hanging out.” He grabbed Onyx’s hand and placed the one hundred dollar bill in his palm. “So what do you say? Do we have a deal?”

Never in a million years did he think he’d ever reach a point in his life where he’d be desperate enough to say the next words that came out of his mouth. 

“Yeah,” he nodded. “It’s a deal.”

Day smiled. “Text me what times you’re usually free and I can work out the details for our next meeting.”

Onyx nodded and glanced down at his hand that was still in Day’s hold. He watched with an odd fixation as their pulses beat the very same rhythm and glowed the very same shade of red. He glanced up and almost immediately recoiled when his dark eyes met pale blue orbs. He hastily turned away and set a fast walking pace out of the front door when his pulse began to quicken dramatically. He knew Day was aware of the effect his absolute nonsense was having on him. He knew Day’s pulse should have accelerated just as much to match his own and it annoyed him beyond belief. It was embarrassing the amount of control others could have on his emotions.

He hesitated a bit when Day called out a farewell to him. 

“I’ll see you soon, Onyx!”

Onyx continued walking, not bothering to look back, but still whispering a reply under his breath even though he was aware Day couldn’t hear. 

“See you…”

“Jesus Christ, Onyx,” Alyssa laughed as he trailed kisses along her neck before he leaned up to place his lips upon hers. “First a surprise visit and now this? What’s gotten into you? I just saw you yesterday; you couldn’t have missed me that much.”

“Alyssa,” Onyx muttered against her lips. “Could you shut up for a moment?”

Alyssa let out an obnoxious laugh that had Onyx cringing a bit. “Romantic as ever, shorty.”

Onyx backed away from her with a sigh. “You know, I had a question I was meaning to ask you, but now the answer is crystal clear.”

“Yeah? And what question was that?”

“I was gonna ask you why we’ve never had sex, but then you had to go and be your usual self and now it all makes sense.” Onyx ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

Alyssa was quiet in thought for once before she hesitantly asked, “where’s any of this coming from? We’ve never talked about sex before.”

“No reason,” Onyx muttered because there was no way in hell he was going to state the truthful answer out loud. 

There was no way he was going to outwardly admit that he was in fact confused about his sexuality.