Page 2 of Catch Me (Becoming Us #4)

Travis

Today

It always sucked when my team didn’t make it to the World Series, but a bunch of other teams didn’t either, so I tried not to bitch about it. This was only my third season, and I was notoriously impatient. Maybe we’d get there next year.

Even though we weren’t playing, I wasn’t a poor sport, and I liked to watch the other teams fight for the title.

After Sen reappeared in my life five months ago, I’d started getting him and his boyfriend, Kai, tickets to games.

Not all of them, but quite a few. More than once, I wondered if he’d made sacrifices to Satan in order to find Kai.

They were perfect together, and I knew that he was the reason Sen was able to heal from his past as much as he had.

I was often busy, and I spent a god-awful amount of time living out of a suitcase, so I didn’t really have close friends anymore. Aside from the occasional meetup with people back home and hanging out with the guys on the team, I didn’t have much of a social life. Not off of social media, at least.

Today was the first game in the World Series, which was why I’d rented a suite above the field. It was big, with multiple tables, a private bar, and its own bathroom. The giant glass window across the front of it gave us a great view of the field.

Sen looked around the space with his mouth open. “This is insane. How much was this?”

“Classified.” My lips quirked as I took a drink of my beer.

Kai was at the window, staring down at the field. He looked perfectly content like that, and it made me laugh.

“Your other friends are coming, right?” I asked.

Sen nodded. “They’re on their way up. I told West there was food in here, but he still wanted to buy a hotdog because he’s a fat ass.”

I couldn’t disagree. West was extremely fit, but every time I saw him, he ate an entire day’s worth of calories at once.

He was also...spirited. His boyfriend, Linc, was way more levelheaded, and one might think they’d balance out, but West just did what he was gonna do while everyone else tried their damndest to keep up.

Looking at Sen again, I tapped my thumb on the bottle absently. “How’s work going?”

“It’s good. Still getting into the swing of it.” He laughed a little. “Swing.”

Kai came up and wrapped his arms around Sen from behind. “Are we doing puns? I hit a home run when I met you.”

I snorted a laugh and shook my head. “That’s so cheesy.”

“That’s the point. Learn some puns and you’ll make someone fall in love with you too.”

“Thanks for the advice, kid.”

“I’m twenty, so I resent that.”

“Speaking of that,” Sen drawled. “Are the less than twenty-ones allowed to raid the drinks?”

I shrugged. “As long as they don’t walk out of here fucked up or claim I endorsed it, I guess.”

Kai flashed Sen a smile before he skipped over to the bar.

“He confuses me sometimes,” I said.

“His personality is as varied as his taste in music.”

“I didn’t know if it was possible for you two to look more in love than last time, but you do. I know I’ve said it before, but I’m really happy for you, man.”

The way he smiled as he looked over at Kai made me avert my gaze.

Every time I saw them together, I was struck by how beautiful their relationship was.

Alongside that was the guilt I’d felt at Camp Dumont as I ran into the woods.

I knew that Sen didn’t blame me for what happened, but I could never quite shake it.

Looking down at my hand, I saw the faint scars on my knuckles from the pieces of bark that had lodged in them that day.

I thought about that tree I’d taken out my aggression on and wondered if the blood still stained it.

Maybe I’d left a part of myself there and I’d have to feel this for the rest of my life.

God, I hoped not. If it wouldn’t put the whole forest at risk, I might’ve taken a trip to salt and burn the damn thing like it harbored a bad spirit.

“I saw that you opened a fundraising campaign,” Kai said when he returned with a few beers. He passed one to me and took a long drink of his.

Sen stood straighter, his eyes becoming more alert. “A big one. It has something to do with Dumont, right?”

Pushing one of my hands into my pocket, I curled my fingers in and nodded. “It’s blown up more than I expected. We’re trying to find a way to stop places like that from preying on kids. Only twenty-six states have laws banning it, which is...” I shook my head. “It’s ridiculous.”

“You’re getting a lot of attention on the issue, though.”

“Yeah. The money is meant to help us work with attorneys and other officials to see what can be done in places where it’s still legal. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but...” I shrugged, not sure what else to say right now.

“This shit’s dope,” someone said from the entryway.

When I turned, I saw Brooks carrying his boyfriend, Tilian, on his back.

Those two were weird as hell, but I guess they all were.

Tilian looked like he was going to throw up when I first met him, but I’d seen him twice since then and he seemed a little better each time.

Guess he needed time to bloom or something.

Tilian dropped his feet to the ground and spun in a circle, his blond hair falling into his eyes with the movement. “This is, like, the palace of the baseball world.”

“Whose dick did you suck to get this, Trav?” Brooks asked with a grin.

“Thankfully, I have money.”

“So do I. You’re not special. ”

Tilian snorted a laugh, then shot me an apologetic look. “Sorry. He’s feeling, um...”

“They’re stoned,” Sen said with a dismissive gesture.

I chuckled. “Aren’t they always?”

“Based,” Brooks noted casually.

A man, who I assumed was his dad, came in. He was incredibly casual and didn’t act like he was blown away by the suite, unlike everyone else. I was pretty sure Brooks’ family had an ungodly amount of money, so I wasn’t surprised.

“Oh, they’re attorneys,” Sen exclaimed.

Brooks scoffed. “I haven’t even started law school. But my parents did inject me with oodles of knowledge. Do you need an attorney, Trav? You hit someone with your bat, huh? If it wasn’t an accident, learn to lie.”

Tilian smacked Brooks in the chest, which just made him smile and bite his tongue.

Sen shook his head, probably used to their shit. “Trav is fighting against conversion therapy. It’s still legal in a lot of states.”

“Blow up the government,” Tilian suggested. His eyes were a little too bright for that statement. “Or, if that’s too much, start rallies, get people worked up about it. Make t-shirts and shit.”

Brooks’ dad came over and held his hand out to me. I took it firmly and felt relieved when his expression became less serious.

“Noah Elrod,” he said.

“Travis McKinney.”

“I like what you’re fighting for. Any particular reason for your interest in it?”

“I was put into conversion camp when I was fifteen.”

His eyes widened slightly. “Christ. I can’t imagine.

If you want my advice, the first step is to gain the online following, which you seem to have already done.

Try to meet with legislators and continue to keep the public engaged.

People have a tendency to jump behind an issue, then start to forget about it quickly. ”

“How do you suggest I keep them engaged?”

“You’ve spoken out about your experience, I assume?

” I nodded. “Get more people to do the same. One person’s experience raises awareness.

Add in another, two more, ten more, and it becomes jarring.

They’ll see that it’s not as rare as they might think.

Do you know anyone else who can share their experience? ”

I shifted my gaze to Sen, who looked uncomfortable. Kai pulled him against his side and whispered something in his ear.

“I’m not sure,” I said.

“You could make a video asking if anyone would share their story,” Brooks suggested.

“Maybe...” Sen trailed off, then cleared his throat. “Maybe I could.”

“You don’t have to,” I replied quickly.

“You were in conversion therapy?” Tilian asked. When Sen nodded, his brows drew down. “I’m sorry. Shit, that doesn’t help. Sorry. God damnit.”

Sen breathed a laugh. “Relax, Tilian.”

“Right. Trying.”

When Sen looked at me, he chewed on his lip for a second.

“You went for half a summer, and I went for three, plus my parents tried to send me back just last year. It took me until I was twenty to accept that I’m gay, and the things I still deal with can show people the lasting consequences.

If I decide to do it, I think it could help, which is what’s important. ”

“Everyone looks super serious,” a new voice chimed in. He was young, maybe a middle schooler, and he had blond hair a lot like Tilian’s.

“Be respectful, Alex,” Tilian scolded.

“I am, I am.”

“We can talk more about it another time,” I said. “Sen, don’t feel like you have to do anything. But if you decide that you want to, I’d be honored to have your story on my channel.”

“Imagine the looks on your parents’ faces.” Brooks snickered, putting a hand over his mouth. “They deserve to be called out for their crimes.”

Surprisingly, Sen laughed. “Another reason to consider it.”

After Tilian’s family settled in, West and Linc arrived, loud as ever.

Everyone was lost in conversation, and when the game started, they went back and forth between watching and talking.

There were a few others they’d brought, who I didn’t know.

One of them had been keeping to himself, and only Tilian’s parents had said anything to him.

“You invited him?” I heard Tilian ask in an angrier tone than I thought he was capable of .

“He was in town,” Miranda, his stepmother, said. “We’re all family.”

He snorted. “That’s generous.”

“Can you guys try not to be at each other’s throats? You’re not teenagers anymore, Til, and he was respectful at Alex’s birthday party.”