Free With or Without You by Alison Tyler

dinner at one of the better restaurants: Ivy on Robertson, Shecago on Main. Over lobster or sushi or something expensive, they might have talked about what each person hoped to win from the evening.
    Regardless of how the players came together, they were hypnotic.
    I stared, mesmerised, as the two men continued to kiss. They looked so hungry, the way the dark-haired man cradled his blond beau’s face in his hands. Thebrunette was the top of the two, I could tell, moving his partner to suit his own satisfaction. I hadn’t known I’d find an image like this so sexy. Sure, I liked My Beautiful Launderette , Another Country and My Own Private Idaho . But what did that say about me? That I enjoyed art-house films?
    This was real life, with the men devouring one another, kissing as if they’d never stop. I watched, spell-bound, as they made out. They both had their eyes closed, lost in the total pleasure of the moment, and then the girl joined in, parting them like the sexual choreographer she was, getting in between them. Awestruck, I suddenly realised that I was the only one so intently focused on the room. Yes, the dancers on the floor were watching, but they were also still dancing. I wouldn’t have been able to move from the booth. I was wildly turned on, shifting again in the booth as I sensed how aroused the scenario had made me.
    And then things got sexier still.

Chapter Five
    The door to the Cinéma Vérité room opened and I realised with a sudden shocked intake of breath that Nora had just entered the tiny space. As if needing to verify the vision on the screen, I looked over at the bar, surprised that she’d been able to pass by the booth without my noticing. But I’d been lost in my thoughts, trying to pen them in, make sense of them. Now, I stared as Nora pushed the two men aside and kissed the girl. A raucous wave of approval from the dance floor greeted this new erotic antic. Customers were definitely paying attention now, focused as Nora made her way down the girl’s body, following the zipper on the girl’s vinyl dress with her own berry-glossed lips.
    The blonde closed her eyes and leaned back against the mirrored wall as Nora started to kiss her. I wondered how far my best friend would go. I’ve always known that she likes to divide her attention between men and women. And I’ve witnessed scenarios in the past that let me know she’s fine with more than a bit of exhibitionism. But was she actually going to have sex in that room, right now, with the whole club as her witness?
    Nora’s universe is so alien from mine. Even after ten years as friends, I am still in awe of her ability to captivate those around her. This skill was what made Waxe Wod so popular back in college. Nora sells a bit of herself with each club that she owns. She doesn’t hide behind the scenes, she steps right up to the front of the stage and MCs them.
    I suppose that I shouldn’t have been surprised by her actions. Had I been paying more attention, I would haverealised she was planning on playing in public this evening. Nora had worn her white mink fedora to the club. She has a code – she’s described to me in the past – a hat code the way that some gay men and women have hankie codes: bondage top (grey), wants oral sex (light blue), dildo user (light pink). Of course, Nora explained, it also matters which pocket the hankies were worn in.
    ‘But what if you didn’t mean it?’ I’d asked her. ‘What if you just had a cold or something and you tucked a hankie into your pocket and someone –’
    ‘What? Fucked you against the bar? There’s always a discussion first, silly. It’s not like you don’t still have a will of your own. It’s just a way of letting people know what you’re into. It cuts to the chase.’
    With a hat, there was only one choice of how to wear it – no right pocket, or left pocket – and very few people know the codes to Nora’s desires. Only me and a few select bed partners. Still, Nora