Page 36 of Toxic

Soren muttered, still staring at the table where the money was, "Aren’t your parents musicians?"

Whoa. Another surprise. Did he even care enough to know those facts from my life?

It felt strange talking to him while he kept looking away, as if the table was more interesting. Soren seemed embarrassed that we were talking about something other than business.

"Yeah, they are, but math skills run in musician families too. I can play guitar and violin, but I didn’t go down that path. My house was always filled with music, so I guess I wanted to take a different route."

"My dad played violin when I was a kid. Then… after the accident, he couldn’t." A strange silence fell between us, and I wasn’t sure how to react. Too much sympathy could annoy him, but saying nothing could be just as bad.

"I’m sorry… Did you like how he played?"

"I did," his tone was dry.

I cleared my throat. "I’m a bit rusty, but I could play for you sometime…"

Soren stayed quiet, stiff and very reserved. He didn’t answer, but continued to stare at the money with a strange fixation. Not knowing what else to add, I walked to the door and said, "Well, take care then, and thanks a lot."

"My email is Soren3002@—"

"Oh, okay, thanks for offering to help."

"No problem," he muttered, still not looking at me. So weird.

And I left, quietly closing the door behind me.

The whole way back to my dorm, I felt like I was floating. Was I being stupid? The world seemed brighter… Despite his bizarre demeanor, Soren had offered to interact with me on something not related to ‘business’! His initiative!

After a while, I sobered up a bit—what the hell? It was silly. After all, Soren treated me like any other patron. I paid him for sex; there was nothing more to it.

But there was this odd thing, though—he was literally staring at the money I left him through the entire conversation, almost obsessively. Was he… considering something? But what? Returning the cash? Nah, stupid. He surely didn’t want to have a relationship with me, so why would he give up on earning money?

And what about me?

My own feelings were all over the place. This situation could cost me a lot, not just financially. Unfortunately, I was a very jealous and possessive type, and knowing what he was involved in weighed heavily on me. I wasn't progressive enough to not mind if my boyfriend had a job like that. I had a more traditional approach that required exclusivity in a relationship.

Boyfriend?

Did I say that? Ridiculous. I was way too ahead of myself.

All too well I remembered what Alvin said about not getting entangled with Soren. He was probably right—with my attitude toward his job, it couldn’t end well. But I wanted this to last a little longer… like a fleeting dream. He had this magical effect on me that couldn’t be resisted.

As I was almost on the steps leading to my dorm, I heard a voice behind me, calling my name.

Confused, I turned around and saw Soren running toward me.

His long black hair was disheveled, his face looked strange—like he was an emotional mess, all over the place, red, flustered, nervous. He abruptly stopped right in front of me, and I felt his hand sliding over my hip, toward my pocket.

Shocked, I looked down. It was the money I gave him; he put it inside my pocket.

But not just the seventy bucks I gave him today—it was all the money I’d given him before!

"What… are you doing?" I mumbled.

He only glared at me with his brows furrowed and turned away, wanting to leave without a word.

But I grabbed his arm.

"Wait, you earned it, Soren."

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