Free Homecoming by Susan X Meagher

balanced.”
    “But he broke up with you,” Jill reminded her.
    “Yeah.” She let out a heavy sigh, then drained the rest of her drink. “He freaked out when I told him I like to have sex with women.”
    Jill was very, very grateful she hadn’t had another mouthful of her drink, because it would also have been sprayed everywhere. “What?”
    “I’m bi,” Lizzie said, smiling when the server dropped off their drinks. “She’s cute, isn’t she?” Her eyes followed the server, clearly checking out her ass.
    “You’re bi? Since when?”
    “Since ever. I had sex with girls before boys.” She narrowed her eyes in thought. “Do you know the Halperns?”
    “Dr. Halpern? The chiropractor?”
    “Yeah. His daughter Erica was the first person I had sex with. She’s a big ol’ dyke now. Lives in Northampton. Mecca for your people.”
    “Holy crap!” Jill dropped her head to the table again. “Why are you telling me all of this? I could have lived, happily, and not known any of these details.”
    Lizzie poked her shoulder. “I’m not embarrassed about being bi. Don’t try to shame me. It won’t work.”
    Jill sat up quickly. “I’m not trying to shame you, Lizzie. It’s just…” She shook her head. “I don’t know a lot of active bisexuals.”
    “You only know passive ones?”
    “No, no, I just know women who were with guys and then figured out they were lesbians. And one guy who was married to a woman before he fell in love with a guy. But no one who goes back and forth.” She took in a breath, trying to process all of this. “How does that work, anyway?”
    “Sure you want to know?” Lizzie took a sip, looking over the rim of the glass with a foxy smile. “It might give you the willies.”
    Jill rolled her eyes. “You’ve already told me you like to fuck guys. How much worse can it be?”
    She pointed at Jill, scowling. “You’re trying to shame me again. Knock it off.”
    “I’m sorry. Really. I’ll keep my editorial comments to myself.”
    “Fine. I’ll answer your question.” Her eyes met Jill’s. “If a guy’s into it, we could invite a woman to join us in bed. If he’s not, I might arrange a date for myself, like with someone I met on a hook-up app.”
    “What does your mother think of this?”
    Lizzie laughed. “Do you honestly think I’ve told my mother I pick up women using an app? She’d strangle me!”
    “I assume she knows you’re bisexual.” Jill slapped herself on the head again. She was going to concuss if she kept this up. “Of course she does. You’ve made it clear you’re not embarrassed. Nor should you be,” she added, emphatically.
    Lizzie didn’t look so self-assured when she raised her glass for a sip of her new drink. “I’m not embarrassed,” she said carefully. “I’ve never been in an adult relationship with a woman, so there’s no reason to bring it up.”
    “What? Why not? I mean, if this is part of your identity…”
    “I suppose it is,” she said, clearly hedging. “So far it’s been a sexual thing. Mostly. And I don’t feel the need to tell my mother what I like to do in bed.”
    “I get that,” Jill said. “But if it’s more than that. If it’s something that made you break up with a guy you really liked…”
    “He broke up with me. He didn’t believe I could be faithful if I was bi. Which is just asinine,” she insisted, her cheeks coloring. “Straight people cheat all the damn time.”
    “You just said he broke up with you because you liked having sex with women. That implies you asked to have sex with women.”
    “I didn’t ask. We were in bed one night, and he asked me to tell him my fantasies.” She let out a sigh, looking truly sad. “After I told him I fantasized about women, he started questioning me. Once I admitted to being bi, I was out on my ear.”
    “Harsh,” Jill said soberly. “Very harsh.”
    “Agreed. Especially because I’d consciously given up women to be monogamous. He was worth it,”