Page 175 of Captivated

“I’m Steve, and I hail from Portland.”

“Maine or Oregon?” Zeeb inquired.

“The latter.” He frowned. “I booked this trip eight months ago, but I’m regretting my choice of dates. I think I picked the wrong week to be out of state.”

Zeeb frowned. “Why?”

“I’m a political journalist.” Steve glanced around the table. “I don’t expect any of you to follow what’s going on in Oregon. I mean, why would you? But there’s a bill up before a committee right now, and it’s huge.” He flushed. “And judging by what I already know about you guys, you might want to know.”

Teague leaned back. “How huge? And what’s the bill about?”

“Conversion therapy.” Steve gazed at them. “Have you all heard of this?”

“You might say that,” Zeeb muttered. Then Nate cleared his throat, and Zeeb couldn’t breathe.

“I have.” Nate’s voice came out steady. “I underwent conversion therapy for a number of years. In Oregon, as a matter of fact.”

The hands stared at him in silence. Sol’s eyes shone.

Zeeb wassofucking proud of Nate.

Steve widened his eyes. “Really? How old were you, if it’s not too impolite a question.”

“From the age of nine until I was fifteen.”

“Oh God.” Steve leaned forward. “I’d love to talk to you about this later, if I may.”

“Hey.” Zeeb glared at him. “You ain’t here to write an article.”

Nate laid his hand on Zeeb’s arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay,” he said in a low voice. He returned his attention to Steve, and gave him a polite smile. “Possibly. Tell us about this bill.”

“There’s a hearing taking place this week. Lawmakers are proposing a bill to ban counselors and therapists from practicing conversion therapy on patients of all ages. There’s already a ban on CT for minors, but Oregon would be the first state to ban it completely.”

“I’ve heard about this,” Nate told him.

How he spoke so calmly, Zeeb would never know.

“I’m not surprised. It’s attracting widespread attention, even from outside Oregon,” Steve announced.

“Does it have a lot of support?” Sol asked.

Steve nodded. “Most lawmakers support it.” He smiled. “There’s one guy who said during the hearing that he was grateful he’d never been exposed to CT. Then he said he was going home to have dinner with his boyfriend.”

That raised a few chuckles.

“The chief sponsor of the bill is a gay Congressman, Rob Nosse, from Portland. He said while he’s never gone through it,he’s heard stories from those who have, people who thought they were changed, but then discovered it hadn’t worked.”

“Yeah, they knew it hadn’t worked, all right, but then they blamed themselves,” Sol commented. “They figured if they tried harder, lived a life of a straight person, then things would eventually click. They didn’t. Many of them cheated on their spouse, ended up getting a divorce, fractured the family…” He scowled. “And all because some people can’t stand to see gay folks be happy.”

Nate said nothing, but poured coffee into his cup.

Steve pulled his phone from his pocket. “He said something in an interview. Let me see if I can find it.” He scrolled for a minute.

“You really went through that?” Walt appeared aghast. “Damn, Nate. I mean,fuck.”

“Not only did Nate go through it, he came out the other side.” Sol’s voice was warm. “That shows an awful lot of resilience and strength.”

Zeeb took Nate’s hand in his. “You’re damn right it does.”