David Miles and Richter Layover are young lovers from West Hollywood who move to Snowden to open a liberal and fun bakery called Cupcakes. What follows is a string of extraordinary men who enter their lives and change their matrimony and the bakery forever. Realtor Anthony Jarr, handsome and alluring, who lives above Cupcakes and considers himself an exceptional lover. When he meets Ryan Glayson, a professional cellist with a relentless urge for sweets, Jarr falls in love for the first time, turning his life into a topsy-turvy spin of surprising romance and selflessness. The magnetic and strange Stefan Pavlov is one of Cupcakes' regulars. Although he comes across as being sweet and charming, he has secrets that are quite damaging, which are exposed during a heated summer along the lake. Erich Misslow, a part-time employee at Cupcakes, becomes enamored with Pavlov, who is almost three times his age. Erich has always enjoyed the company of older men, but does Pavlov have too much peculiar baggage to share? Cupcakes also draws in Ken Eclipse, a charming underwear model with a taste for sweet men and sultry sex. Eclipse searches for Mr. Right like a slice of cinnamon cake for his appetite and personal needs. Can he find the man of his dreams at Cupcakes, or will he forever be single, enjoying the bakery's treats alone? These employees, friends, and lovers combine together with their individual recipes of bliss and loss, and the little bakery called Cupcakes comes to life as the sugary flavor of a gay neighborhood along the lake bursts into life.

Cupcakes

Richter and David were getting a late start opening Cupcakes for business, which was just Hayden’s luck. Fearing for his life, panting wet air into his lungs, semi-dizzy and anxiety-filled, Hayden decided to run around the three-story building, climb the wooden stairs to David and Richter’s apartment, and try to save himself from something that could end in a tragic scene.


Seconds ticked by and Hayden felt hands claw at his shoulders. Before climbing the stairs to the apartment, seeking out safety, and having the chance to react, Hayden was pulled against Pavlov and dragged over the parking lot.


Pavlov drew a stainless-steel knife from his hip that was eight inches long and drew it across Hayden’s neck. Blood splashed down and over the boy’s torso, soaking his clothes. Pavlov now had one arm and hand wrapped around Hayden’s chest. The other hand grasped the bloody knife against Hayden’s left side.


Chapter 21