A one-shoulder black dress with gloves. Audrey-Hepburn-Coutoure.

Talia had draped her supermodel figure in an elegant, one-shoulder black dress, accentuated by dazzling silver jewelry and elbow-length black gloves. I know it’s an odd thing to fixate on, but that one bare shoulder looked so unbelievably sexy I couldn’t resist planting a kiss there while we danced.

Talia had shattered my preconceptions about what love really meant. Through her, I’d learned that love wasn’t property, to be given away and owned by another. Love was energy, hiding invisibly between the molecules in the air. And, like energy, it couldn’t be created or destroyed, no matter how much we tried.

Elizabeth finally returned to me, leaving Talia’s date with a big, shit-eating grin on her face. Rachel may have loved Talia, but there was no question she had the hots for Elizabeth. Who could blame her?

When another slow song started up, Corrine headed our way—

“Hey, Ian…” she started.

“Dammit!” Elizabeth laughed, “Am I gonna get to dance with my own prom date at all tonight?”

Corrine blushed and just whispered, “Okay, maybe the next one then.”

Fifteen minutes later, Corrine and Jake made their way back over to us. Elizabeth gave me a deep, incredibly hot kiss, and then dutifully passed me off to her friend.