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 *hood?