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

“C’mon,” Scooter said, picking up his board again. This time, Andy paddled vigorously, in time with Scooter’s strokes, and they were on the wave in a few quick movements. Scooter crested, got to his feet, and then held out a hand to Andy, keeping his knees loose and toes curled down tight. “I gotcha!” he promised, raising his voice to be heard over the surf.


Scooter put one hand on Andy’s hip to steady him as he got clumsily to his feet. Standing up was tough, the first few times, and Andy was going slow, which actually made it worse. The end of the wave was coming up, and if Andy didn’t hurry, they were gonna get stuffed.


Sure enough, Scooter had to attempt to turn or they were going to run out of wave, but Andy wasn’t set yet and the second Scooter shifted his weight, Andy overbalanced and fell right off the board, his startled “Fuck!” swallowed by the water.


Chapter 21