my face. Everywhere I looked I saw vaguely familiar faces. Models, rap artists, rock stars, young socialites. Champagne flowed, di-
amonds flashed, girls squealed and posed for pictures. I wondered how many of these moments would end up eternalized in the
tabloids the next morning. "Reed! I love this place!" Sabine shouted, throwing her arms around my neck from behind. She tugged me
away from Dominic, and I felt as if I could breathe again. "Thanks for inviting us!"
"You're welcome!" I shouted. The moment we left the restaurant I had speed-dialed Sabine and the Twin Cities, hoping they would
(a) make this part of the night more fun, and (b) give me an excuse to avoid kissing Dominic and/or going back to wherever he was
staying. From the way he'd been looking at me all night, I had a feeling he had one or both in mind. Thank God Platinum had turned
out to be a Twin Cities--approved destination. I turned around to dance with Sabine. Dominic moved right in behind me, grinding
against my back. I tried to ignore the invasion. "Where are London and Vienna?" I asked. "They saw some guys they knew, so they're
bringing them over," Sabine shouted in reply. She glanced over my shoulder at Dominic and made a disgusted face. I was feeling a lit-
tle disgusted myself. "I'm taking her to the bathroom!" Sabine yelled at him. Then she grabbed my arm and pulled me away. I had
never been more grateful. "I will be here!" Dominic shouted after us.
We got to a less crowded corner of the dance floor and Sabine stopped. "Are you okay?" "Yeah. Thank you for getting me out of
there, though," I said, leaning toward her ear. "He was totally fine until he started drinking like a sponge. Now all of a sudden he's Mr.
Inappropriate Touching." "There you guys are!" London sang, holding Vienna's hand aloft as she wove toward us. They both had full
martini glasses, the liquid sloshing over the sides as they walked. The guys they had brought along looked like two Abercrombie mod-
els, one with dark skin and a white shirt, the other with light skin and a black shirt. Both ridiculously hot. "Let's dance!" Vienna said,
throwing her arm over my shoulder. I glanced behind me, but couldn't spot Dominic in the crowd. Who cared where he was, anyway?
A few minutes without his paws all over me felt like a good idea. Plus this place was so jam-packed there was a decent chance he'd
never find us again. Might not be the most polite way in the world to end a date, but at least it would be easy. And this weekend I was
all about easy.
"Don't worry about him," Sabine told me, clearly noticing that I was in crowd-scan mode. "I'm sure he's already molesting some
other girl. Hopefully one who feels like being molested." I laughed and decided to just live in the moment. And so I did. I danced with
my friends, letting go of everything. Letting the music move through me. Letting it shove out all thoughts of the guys I wanted and the
girls they apparently wanted instead of me. Letting thoughts of Billings and its possible closing and of the strange, Cheyenne-related
happenings fade. I just let it all go and had fun with my friends. Eventually white-shirted Abercrombie boy moved from Vienna to me
and we danced together for a good half hour. Unlike Dominic, any touching he did was appropriate. He had incredible rhythm and an
even more incredible smile. Hmmm. Maybe the next boyfriend of the Billings president could be a wild card. Someone from outside
Easton's walls... Now all I had to do was find out who the heck he was. "What's your name? " I shouted, leaning toward him. "Fine!"
he replied, smiling and nodding to the beat.