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

“Finally,” D’ante groaned. He all but flung their mostly-empty glasses and completely-empty dessert plates into a bus bucket and gave the table the most desultory swipe with the rag Andy had ever seen. “I got these,” he told Andy, “if you’ll finish the sweeping. Lock the back door on your way out, would you, then come up to Scooter’s place? We got a little after-work thing, for having survived another Memorial Day without killing anyone. It’s a tradition.”


Andy tried to laugh, but he was too tired to put much energy into it. “I hope it’s a tradition that involves booze,” he told D’ante. “Lots and lots of booze.” He slumped against a table to breathe, no longer required to be alert and fresh for the customers.


Chapter 30