 Mason Carver is an academic suffering from stress. His wife arranges for him to spend a summer lodging at the Venice home of one of her relatives, Mona Dickens. Mrs. Dickens has a 17-year old stepson, Sebastian, a muscular, moody, and seductive young man who soon captures Carver s fantasies. Carver wants to resist, but temptation is strong. As Carver tries to summon the resolve to turn away from the boy, and with the rough trade of Venice s beach, board-walks, and public toilets at hand, it becomes clear that Sebastian is playing with fire, too. Is there a way out for Carver that also helps Sebastian find a safe passage to adulthood?