They arrived at the arcade after a relatively short drive. Both Alyssa and Day were thrumming with a barely concealed energy that Onyx didn’t quite understand as they navigated their way through the place. With a single glance around, he could see there was a bar close to the entrance, a small restaurant on the opposite side of it, a large bowling alley, and a considerably sized arcade toward the back. He’d come to the arcade multiple times with Alyssa and, judging by Day’s reaction when he’d suggested it, he was fairly familiar with the place, as well.

“You guys hungry?” Alyssa asked, raising her voice so she could be heard over the sound of kids shouting, adults cheering, crashing bowling pins, laughter, blaring music, and the multitude of random game noises. “‘Cause I’m starving.”

“No you’re not,” Onyx said with a soft laugh, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You just smell fries.”

“Hell yeah, I do!” Alyssa said, playfully slapping him on the arm. “I could definitely go for a burger and fries right now. So? What do you people say?”

“I could eat,” Day shrugged.

“Gluttony’s a sin, you know?” Onyx joked.

“One of the many sins I’m willing to commit on the daily,” Day sighed dramatically, placing a hand on his heart. He cracked a smile when Alyssa snorted in amusement at the comment. He gestured them over to the small restaurant with a grin. “Come on. I’ll pay.”

They seated themselves at one of the red booths, Alyssa and Onyx on one side and Day on the other. To no surprise, Alyssa ordered a simple American cheeseburger with fries from the menu and Day and Onyx decided to split a single order of spinach and artichoke dip. Without prompt, Day surprised him when he also took the liberty to order Cruzan Mango Rum.

Their server looked suspicious the second the complete order left Day’s mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she asked, “are you of age to be drinking, sir?”

“Of course,” Day lied easily. “A lot of people think I look younger than twenty-two so I don’t blame you for your skepticism, but I guarantee you I’m of legal age to drink. I have ID if you need it—”

“That won’t be necessary, sir,” she interrupted with a smile. “I’ll take your word for it. I’ll be back with your drinks shortly.”

The minute their server left, Alyssa burst out in laughter. 

“Wow,” she said, dragging the word out. “Didn’t know you had that in you. You lied so quickly—”

“And with a straight face,” Onyx tacked on, laughing a bit himself. Honestly, his actions shouldn’t have surprised him in the slightest. That was quite close to the same method Day had used the first time they’d met to get him a case of beer. He suspected it had a lot to do with the fact that, while Day didn’t look all that much older, he also didn’t quite look his age. “I didn’t even know you drank.”

Day shrugged. “My dad doesn’t mind it. He’s bought me alcohol himself on multiple occasions.”

“My dad would literally murder me if he ever caught me drinking,” Alyssa said with a slight frown. “You guys are lucky.”

“I was planning to share with both of you,” said Day, propping an elbow up on the table and leaning his head in his palm. “I had it the last time I came here and I thought it was pretty good. I knew you’d definitely appreciate it at the very least.”

He’d said the last part while looking Onyx in the eye, a glimmer of mischief hidden behind his own pale, bluish-gray eyes. Onyx didn’t know what to make of the look but soon felt the corners of his lips turning up slightly in what could barely be considered a smile. 

“Pretty,” whispered Day, entranced in his expression.

Onyx’s stomach flipped painfully and his face began to burn. He cleared his throat, seeing Alyssa eyeing him from the corner of his eye. He wasn’t sure if she’d heard the comment, but he didn’t want to expose Day further if she hadn’t. He chose to stay silent. 

He felt the atmosphere grow a little tense just when he felt as if the day might go fine, after all. This was precisely what he’d feared. Since they weren’t currently preoccupied with the arcade, they were trapped together in the small, enclosed space and growing uncomfortable silence. He was just beginning to open his mouth in an attempt to break the quiet when he was interrupted by Alyssa.

She threw an arm around his shoulder and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. 

At that moment, Onyx was confident this was going to go down as the worst day of his life he’d ever had the displeasure of experiencing. 

“He is handsome,” she muttered with a forced grin. “M’glad he’s all mine.”

The smile left Day’s face in an instant.

“Oh, come on,” he still attempted to joke. “Don’t make me the third wheel here. I promise I didn’t forget you two are dating. No need to shove it in my face.”

“My bad,” Alyssa said simply. She didn’t remove her arm from around Onyx’s shoulder nor did she seek to increase the minimal space between them.

“So, how has studying for your AP exam been going?” Onyx asked Day in a not-so-subtle attempt to change the subject.

Nonetheless, he took the bait. They talked about practically nothing for the next couple of minutes until their server arrived with their drinks. They waited for the woman to walk away before Day pushed the rum in Onyx’s direction.

He hummed as he took a sip. It was sweet, a little overly so for his taste, but it was still pleasantly flavorful. It had a very slight alcoholic flavor with no bite. It was definitely different. He tended to prefer the bitter taste of beer more than any other drink. The first time he’d drank beer, he found the taste absolutely disgusting, but he’d eventually grown accustomed to it. Now, he had a difficult time getting into wines and liquors. For that reason alone, he was pleasantly surprised by the rum’s flavor. He suspected that had a lot to do with the fact that the beverage was more sugar and mango than it was alcohol.

“What do you think?” Day asked as he passed the drink to Alyssa. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah. It’s not bad.” He watched Alyssa take a sip through her straw and the way her eyebrows rose in surprise before turning back to Day. “I’m guessing you have a bit of a sweet tooth, though.”

A slight blush crept onto Day’s cheeks. “Yeah. I’m not really a fan of any of the hard stuff. No offense or anything, but I think beer is the grossest thing ever.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Alyssa said. “I just drink it ‘cause I like the kick. This is actually really good. Expensive, though.”

“The price isn’t bad.”

“Says you, Richie.”