In June 1966, ACLU attorney Eron Lassiter attends his uncle’s wedding and makes an unsettling discovery. Though Eron had bowed to family pressure and planned a potential marriage, his long-ignored attraction to other men roars to life when Garrett Emerson, the bride’s nephew, captures his attention.<br><br>After serving in the Korean War and going to college later than his peers, upwardly mobile Garrett now works as a loan officer at a local bank. For his girlfriend -- fiancée in her mind -- Garrett can’t climb fast enough. But none of that matters to Eron, and maybe that’s why Garrett’s so drawn to him.<br><br>Together, can Eron and Garrett find happiness amidst the pervasive culture of propriety, honor, and expectation of the 1960s?

Need Your Love

Garrett pulled into his parking spot and nodded toward his apartment as they got out of the car. Once inside, Eron lowered himself to the davenport and Garrett plopped down next to him.


“We’re both confused. Don’t be so hard on yourself. It doesn’t help that we both have girlfriends and family that only want what they think is the best for us.”


“Do you and Johnette…you know…”


“Have sex? No. I used to tell myself it was because she was a respectable girl and we should wait.”


“Come on, you know the answer to that. What about you and Mary Ellen?”


“Eron, why did you come see me today?”


Eron had struggled with the same question. “As much as I don’t want to be queer, I want to be with you.”


“I understand that,” Garrett said after a while. “I don’t identify with the queens that live in the city.”


Chapter 29