Janette confronts Terrence

As the music stopped, the crowd erupted into applause. Alicia gave a grand bow and waved. She was soaking it all in, thrilled to have been part of the event.

Terrence, on the other hand, was quite uncomfortable. As he returned to his friends, he couldn't bring his eyes to meet Jan's. He could feel her anger as he approached. He shook his head, his energy radiating something between ashamed and confused.

"God dammit, Ter, what the hell?" Janette spit the words at him.

"What did you want, Jan? I don't understand the rules, but -- and even so, it was a fucking dance. It's not like I did anything inappropriate." Terrence looked to the others for support. "Come on, guys, what did I do?"

Wyatt shrugged. Kayla looked away.

Kat said, "I don't know, but it was hot. You were absolutely stuck to that girl."

Janette looked at Kat, as if her comments were validation of her own frustration. "What was it like, Terrence? Did you enjoy it?"

"Enjoy it?" he replied. "No! I mean ... no. No, I didn't enjoy it. I was up there in front of a bunch of strangers, you were watching me."

Janette took a breath and calmed a bit. "But did you enjoy it?"

The group was quiet. Janette's question had taken a different tone. Terrence thought to himself, does she want me to have enjoyed it? He didn't understand what she was looking for.

Jan continued. "Watching you dance with that woman, watching you two so close together ... I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if you ... if you never touched another woman. You know, after we get married. And would you ... oh fuck, I'm going to fucking cry." She stopped talking for a second. Kayla put her arm around her in comfort.

"Come on, Jan, don't go there," Kayla said.

"But like," Jan continued, "am I forcing you to ... I just ..." She struggled to get the sentiment out. "It was just a dance, right?"

"It was just a dance, Jan," said Terrence. "It was just a dance. And she pulled me to her. She told me I had to dance or I would get a penalty."

"A penalty?" said Kat. "What's that?"

"I don't know!" said Terrence. "I didn't want to find out."

Wyatt noticed that the auctioneer had begun shuffling some papers, and looked ready to speak again.

"Why do you want to know if I enjoyed it?" Terrence asked Jan. "Something about the way you asked me. And I can't tell ... can't tell what you want my answer to be?"

Janette looked away, but then took a deep breath and smiled. "I think I was jealous. I think I was nervous and upset and jealous that you would enjoy a tight dance with a beautiful woman ... and that it wasn't me."

"Jan, there's no one but you."

"I'm not done," said Janette. The others were silent, waiting to hear what else she had to say.

"Okay," Terrence said quietly.

"It made me wonder what it would feel like ... if I got to do something like that with someone who wasn't you. Would I like it? Would I resent it? Would I desperately wish I was with you again? Would I discover something else?"

"You know, Jan," said Kat. "You could bid on the next item, and do some exploration of your own!"

Janette laughed. "Sure, maybe I'll bid on the next item. I'll take the next dance with a sexy stranger."

"Oh my god, do it!" said Kat. "You need to. It's decided. If you don't, I'm going to bid for you."

Jan smiled. "Okay, stop. You can bid for yourself."

"No, you said it, Jan. You want to break out of your box a little." Kat was getting excited at the prospect. "What if the next auction is some super hot guy? You can stick it to Terrence!"

"I don't need to stick it to anyone."

"No," said Terrence, "it's all cool. If you want to dance with someone, I'm not going to stop you."

Janette looked at him. "Hey, it's just a party, right?" She put her hand on Terrence's face, and then leaned in to kiss him. "It's just a party. I'm just worked up, and it's nothing. Right?"

Terrence nodded, though wasn't totally sure he agreed. "Right. It's nothing."

"It's nothing," Jan said again.

The auctioneer rapped his gavel on the podium. "Okay, friends. It's time to bid on Lot Number Two!"

The crowd buzz died down, and everyone focused their attention on the auctioneer, eager to hear what he was going to say.