I’ve not adhered to some pearls of wisdom that are out there like kissing the guy on the first date to know if you have chemistry, letting the guy pay, etc.

I’ve never heard this and find it absurd that you would talk about sex. I am not sure what the right answer is about sexual preferences - there is a high chance they are heterosexual or bisexual, hence the interest in the opposite sex. Do they expect to know the frequency of wanting to have sex, preferred positions, etc?