Oswald Sattle has been sleeping in his Toyota Camry for the last 273 days, the exact number of days since he discovered his fiancé cheating on him. Now, out of money and out of options, he’s on his way to Nortown. Aiden, an acquaintance from his past, has offered him a job opportunity he can’t turn down, no matter how much he’d like to.
Joshua Roth moved to Nortown four years ago, and he has everything he needs -- a job, friends, peace and quiet. He’s not looking for a boyfriend; no one even knows he’s gay, and he’d like it to stay that way. Everything changes when he offers Oswald a place to stay, though.
Oswald looks like he wants to run away, and Josh finds himself suggesting things that will make him stay. All he wants is for Oswald to smile. Oswald doesn’t want to overstay his welcome, but nothing soothes his nerves like being with Joshua in his cabin.
How long can Oswald stay before it’s time to move on again? Can Joshua have Oswald staying with him without the whole town talking about them? Probably not, but does he care?
Chapter 1: Cute Guys and Open RelationshipsOswald Sattle gazed out the windscreen of his Toyota Camry—a sorry sight. Both the car and the view. How fitting. Cracks melted into a spider web on the asphalt before him, the tenement houses to his left were a soulless grey, and the shop in the bottom floor of the last house in the row made him long to turn the key and keep on going. He should keep going. Why he’d come here, he didn’t know. The morning was damp and dull, the leaves in the process of turning orange, and Oswald had been fighting to breathe for two hundred and seventy-three days. Two hundred and seventy-three days ago Oswald had been the happiest he’d ever been, happier than he’d ever expected to be…and now he was here. In Nortown. In one second, everything had changed. One slo