Andy Howard dropped out of college to get away from his abusive father. When his longtime boyfriend reveals similar tendencies, Andy refuses to endure another moment of it, running away with nothing more than the cash in his pockets. He makes it to Virginia, where he's taken in by Scooter Stahl, a restaurant owner looking for an extra hand who's willing to be paid cash under the table.<br><br>Scooter's been struggling for years: to keep the beachside restaurant he inherited from his parents above water (both financially and literally); to live down the fact that he's gay in a small southern town; to get over the man who's owned his heart since he was fourteen. But he's never had to struggle as hard as he is now, to keep his hands off Andy.

Nights in Sandbridge

“Call D’ante,” Jason suggested. “I heard his transmission is going out. He might need the extra work for a few days?” D’ante had worked full-time at Dockside a few years back, when he’d first come back from that disastrous tour of duty in Afghanistan and had needed something to get him out of the house, away from overbearing, too-sympathetic family. These days, he lived with his sister, helping to keep an eye on her kids, but he could generally be counted on to fill in a shift or two when Dockside was short on hands.


“You call D’ante,” Scooter said. “I’ll put a sign up and call down to the paper.” Who knew, maybe someone in this town had a teenager who needed some work. That wasn’t likely—there wasn’t any publictransportation that stopped close to the restaurant, and teens who had cars also had access to better-paying jobs. But who knew? Someday, one day, Scooter’s luck would change. Maybe.


Chapter 3