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

It took Andy a while to realize what was happening, but once he noticed, he couldn’t stop. Jason’s armwent around Kat’s shoulders, or they held hands. She leaned against Jason when they were waiting in line, and occasionally tipped her head up to demand a kiss.


Scooter knocked shoulders with Andy, shoved and pushed playfully, ruffled Andy’s hair…but stayed a careful step away. He smiled as brightly as ever, but kept his hands stuffed in his pockets when he wasn’t using them.


Andy had never really bothered with being closeted, but he knew what it looked like. Everyone in Sandbridge, more or less, knew Scooter was gay, so they didn’t bother trying to hide it. But here, surrounded by strangers…


He shouldn’t take it personally. It had nothing to do with Andy, and everything to do with growing up surrounded by homophobic asshats. It still stung, though; a couple of weeks ago, Scooter had been talking about wanting to show Andy off.


Chapter 78