2

"You know, a sugar baby," Austin said with a smile as he leaned back on the chair he was sitting on.

It was then Jared realized what Austin was advising him to do. "I—" he started, but paused, swallowing the ball of saliva in his mouth as his hands got sweaty. He had considered that a long time ago, but no one replied to his forms even though he was offering a lot — no one was willing to be with him for an extended period even for a salary like monthly allowance. He was that hopeless, and Jared didn't want to remember it.

"I haven't had luck with that," Jared found himself admitting after the two were quiet for a bit. "I think people aren't just interested—"

"Nonsense!" Austin had said, waving his hand in the air and attracting a few curious looks from strangers. "You probably just suck at making an offer," the man said with a grin. Jared wasn't amused he just sighed and took a sip of beer from his glass.

"How about I help you?"

"Hmm?" Jared.

"I'll help you find a match! A great one!" Austin rambled. "I found myself a good-looking young person. Don't worry, I'll do everything!" he insisted, reaching out to tap Jared's shoulder like he was consoling him.

It was after that night at the bar that the two became friends. Following that was a month of tireless searching until someone finally signaled that they were interested. It excited Jared more than it should have when he got the news that someone was interested in his offer. He'd always thought Darnell was attractive from his pictures alone. For the longest time, he expected a catch to the offer. Like Darnell wanted an outrageous sum of money or there was something fishy going on, but nothing like that ever came up. The more that Austin corresponded with Darnell and gave Jared information about him the less worried and more excited Jared became. He was legal — a nineteen-year-old that would soon turn twenty, he went to college and lived with his friend who was a similar age, so Jared could safely cross out human trafficking, and Darnell wasn't asking for too much. Jared just had to pay his rent and tuition and that seemed like a fair bargain to Jared. As someone who had a lot of money that he wasn't using saved up away, he wouldn't mind paying that much.

Jared was now parked at the place he was supposed to meet Darnel at. He was a few minutes early so he sat back, opening the window of the driver's seat halfway before looking out into the empty parking lot for a while. Being impatient he ended up taking his phone out of his car's pigeonhole before texting the number Austin had said was Darnell's.

Message to: Darnell.

I'm waiting.

FRI, 4:52 PM.

Message from: Darnell.

I'm here. Hold on a minute. : )

FRI, 5:02 PM.

Jared blinked for a few minutes, unsure why he suddenly felt nervous. They didn't text a lot. Jared never knew what to say, and Darnell only messaged him to clarify things, but the fact that a tangible person was replying and texting him at all made Jared's heart race. He didn't think he would ever get used to it.

A knock on the window by the driver's seat made Jared look up from his phone. He sat frozen for a few seconds unable to get the words out of his mouth as he stared at the young man crouching by the window.

"Jared?" the man said with a smile that made Jared's heart skip a bit. Darnell was ten times more attractive than he was in his pictures. Jared could only nod and watch as the boy's grin widened as he ducked away and went around the car to open the door to the passenger seat.

"Sorry, didn't mean to be late," Darnel muttered, fighting with the seatbelt until he got the hook to work. His messy dark curls bounced around a bit as he looked from side to side and then straight at Jared before smiling again. "You look great!" he chirped making Jared's face warm up as he looked away. Sure, he had put a lot of thought into dressing up today, but that never worked, and it was odd to have someone acknowledge that.

"T-thanks..." Jared trailed, biting his bottom lip as he started the car and drove them into the road. "Y-you look good too," he stuttered, and Darnell thanked him, taking out a book from his bag. Jared looked away, focusing on the road ahead. His nerves causing his hands to be sweaty even though the AC was one and it was chilly. And he scolded himself for not being able to keep his words clear and stuttering under control. He felt like he probably looked and sounded ridiculous, but Darnell didn't mock him, he just kept on smiling like he had been doing since he got in the car. It was a sincere smile. Jared knew what pity smiles looked like, Darnell's wasn't one of them. It made Jared's heart swell and his face flush a deep red.

Darnell started singing somewhere in the middle of the ride. He was a good singer. His voice was low and rather high pitched. Jared knew the song, so he mouthed the lyrics under his breath. He must have started singing for real because Darnell let out a chuckle before he returned to singing. If someone else had laughed at him Jared would immediately re-curl into his own space and stopped doing whatever was bringing him humiliation, but Darnell didn't seem to be making fun of him. He had just seemed surprised, so Jared kept humming along with him.

Jared thought Darnell's voice was soft and sweet. Like he was stroking Jared's ego and making him shiver with happiness. It was a stinging mouth-watering sweetness.

It was a lot like sugar.