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

There was a spiral staircase on one side of the living room that led up to the two bedrooms. The master had a walk-out balcony, and Kat rather proudly showed off her “view,” meaning that if you stepped all the way to the far left hand side of the balcony and jumped, you could actually see a little bit of the ocean. Probably. But mostly the view was obscured by a giant hotel. And beach. A shiny patch of sand glittered between the buildings, surrounded by scrubby palm bushes.


“This is nice,” he said honestly, and tried not to think about the apartment in New York. It had been smaller than this, because of the New York cost of living, and they’d decorated very differently, but there was a similar sense of pride and—


Chapter 26