59 pages • 1-hour read
Game Changer
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Chapters 13-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of anti-gay bias and sexual content.
Chapter 13 Summary
Scott and Kip wake together the morning after the NHL trade deadline. Kip reflects on his successful museum interview but has not mentioned it to Scott, feeling his ambitions pale beside Scott’s achievements. Before work, Scott tries to convince Kip to stay home, but Kip resists. They have coffee and anticipate seeing each other at the Equinox Gala the following night.
Later, Scott has lunch with his agent, Todd Wheeler, who pressures him to date someone for publicity. Scott deflects, thinking about the issues his actual relationship would cause. Todd expresses fatherly concern, but Scott insists he is happy. After lunch, Todd texts a photo of an actress; Scott declines.
On Thursday, Kip prepares for the gala at Elena’s apartment. She asks whether he is comfortable with the secrecy, and Kip admits he would like public dates but is happy because to finally be in a happy relationship. At the lavish gala, Kip is awed by the spectacle but feels out of place when robot servers highlight the precariousness of his own work. He spots Scott across the room and stares until Elena warns him to be subtle, noting that Scott looked elated upon seeing him.
Scott makes his way through the crowd and formally meets Elena. Equinox CEO Jacqueline Kane joins them. When Jacqueline asks if Scott brought a date, he glances at Kip before saying he came alone. After she leaves, an awkward silence falls as Scott worries the setting is alienating for Kip, who admits he feels like he should be working. Elena leaves them to get drinks, and they exchange charged words filled with longing. Before separating for dinner, they shake hands, and Scott secretly caresses the inside of Kip’s wrist.
During dinner, Scott sits apart from Kip and feels restless. He excuses himself to a quiet alcove, where Kip joins him for a tense, sexually charged moment before departing. Later, Elena asks Scott to dance and confronts him about his intentions. Scott confesses he has fallen for Kip and promises “to give him everything [he] can” (167), hoping to offer more in the future. Elena emphasizes her friendship with Kip and insists he is happier than he’s ever been. As she speaks, Scott sees Kip across the room and realizes he is in love. After the gala, Scott texts Kip his apartment access code. Carter Vaughan stops a departing Scott, drunkenly congratulating him on his beautiful girlfriend (Elena) and promising secrecy. Scott escapes and heads home.
Chapter 14 Summary
Kip arrives at Scott’s apartment first and creates a romantic atmosphere with low lighting and jazz. When Scott arrives, he kisses Kip slowly and passionately. As Etta James sings “At Last,” Kip asks Scott to dance. They slow dance in the living room, and Scott expresses his wish that they could’ve danced at the gala. Kip shares his fantasy of taking Scott to a gay club, something Scott has never experienced in New York. Scott tells Kip he wants to go everywhere with him, but the unspoken limitation of their secret relationship hangs between them.\
Overwhelmed with emotion, Scott tells Kip he “cannot believe [he is] real,” and Kip replies that he “keep[s] thinking [he will] wake up” (174). Scott begins slowly undressing Kip, taking an authoritative role that Kip enjoys. He removes all of Kip’s clothes, then undresses himself. They kiss hungrily, and Scott carries Kip to the bedroom where they have penetrative sex. Afterward, as Kip straddles his stomach, Scott looks up at him and knows for sure that he is in love with Kip.
Chapter 15 Summary
The next day, Kip watches Scott pack for a nine-day road trip. Scott invites Kip to stay at his apartment while he is away, and Kip accepts. Kip reveals that Monday, the day Scott returns, is his 26th birthday. Scott promises to remember it next year, implying a long-term future together. Kip internally acknowledges he is in love with Scott. They flirt, and Scott playfully gives Kip a hickey as something to remember him by. They have sex, with Scott expressing his desire to ride Kip. Afterward, Kip considers telling Scott he loves him but decides against it, fearing it is too soon. Scott awkwardly asks whether Kip has been with other men, and Kip assures him that he has been exclusive with Scott and is happy to wait for him.
Scott leaves for the airport but returns a few minutes later, looking anguished. He tells Kip he loves him, explaining he wanted to say it before leaving. A tearful Kip replies that he loves him too. They kiss, and Scott leaves.
At a team dinner, their new player, Matti Jalo, proves charismatic and popular. Scott leaves early to call Kip from his hotel room, and they reaffirm their love. They joke about Jalo’s good looks and exchange photos via text. At practice the next morning, Carter teases Scott about Elena. To maintain his cover, Scott says that Elena and he want privacy but that he is in love. Scott privately considers whether he might one day tell Carter the truth.
Kip has dinner with Elena and tells her about their declarations of love. Elena asks about his job prospect, and Kip says if he does not get it, there is no reason to mention it to Scott. When Kip asks if their declarations were weirdly fast, Elena reassures him that if the feeling is real, it is not weird.
Chapter 16 Summary
In Detroit, Scott wants to call Kip so he uses an empty meeting room. Their flirtatious conversation escalates into an extended phone session, with Scott taking a dominant role and instructing Kip on how to touch himself. Scott tells Kip to retrieve a large dildo from the nightstand and use it on himself while also self-stimulating. While listening to Kip, Scott refrains from touching himself. Kip climaxes while Scott listens, and afterward Scott immediately goes to his hotel bathroom to masturbate.
The next day, Kip receives an email informing him he did not get the museum job because the chosen candidate has a graduate degree. Feeling dejected, Kip calls Elena, who suggests he pursue his own advanced degree. Alone in Scott’s apartment, Kip spirals into anxiety and insecurity about his career and being kept secret. He worries that he is just a convenience for Scott, who will eventually leave him. Kip texts Scott but does not receive an immediate reply, fueling his anxiety. An hour later, Scott calls from the Toronto airport and tells Kip a funny story, which lifts his spirits. When Scott asks how his day was, Kip does not tell him about his fears.
Chapter 17 Summary
Kip and Elena watch the Admirals game against Toronto on television. The game goes to a shootout, and Scott is the third shooter for his team. Scott scores the winning goal, and Kip jumps up, exclaiming that the man loves him. Later, Kip texts Scott his congratulations, and Scott replies that he loves him.
The next afternoon, Scott calls Kip from Winnipeg, having secured a hotel room to himself after lying about needing space to focus. They arrange a video call. They connect, with Scott visibly nervous at first. They talk and flirt, discussing Scott’s birthday plans for Kip, until Scott relaxes. They both undress and begin pleasuring themselves for each other on camera. While talking explicitly, they reaffirm their love.
Afterward, Scott says he wants to spend a week with Kip in the apartment when he gets home. The prospect triggers Kip’s anxiety about their relationship being perpetually hidden. Scott notices Kip’s change in demeanor, but Kip brushes it off and ends the call. Kip is left feeling conflicted, wishing for a public relationship with Scott.
Chapter 18 Summary
On Monday, Kip’s 26th birthday, he waits at Scott’s apartment for his return from the road trip. Scott sends a series of texts tracking his journey home. When Scott arrives, they share a passionate reunion, have sex, and shower together. Scott suggests they go out for lunch—their first time eating together in public. Kip’s excitement is tempered when Scott qualifies it as just one lunch, implying it will not be a regular occurrence.
At a nearby diner, they do not act like a couple. Scott mentions taking a vacation together in the summer to a place where they will not be recognized, which deepens Kip’s anxiety about their relationship always being a secret. Kip tells Scott about his birthday plans to meet friends at a gay pub called the Kingfisher and invites Scott to join them, but Scott declines, worried about being seen there. Two fans recognize Scott at the diner and ask for a picture, which Kip takes for them. The encounter makes Scott anxious, and he insists they leave quickly. On the walk home, Kip senses Scott’s tension and assumes he regrets being seen with him.
Back at the apartment, Scott gives Kip his birthday gift: a $50,000 check to pay off his student loans. Kip is shocked and offended, refusing the gift and insisting he has his pride. Their disagreement escalates into an argument, with Scott arguing it is a practical solution and Kip feeling like a charity case. Scott says that Kip changed his life, implying he wants to do the same for Kip. They both apologize, and Scott admits the gift was excessive. They reconcile and agree the check will not be used. They say they love each other and kiss. Scott lists his demanding professional schedule for the coming week, including interviews and photo shoots, highlighting the vast differences in their lives. Scott reassures Kip that his off-ice obligations are not as important as hockey and their time together. Kip resigns himself to “sharing” Scott with the world, and Scott says the world only gets “tiny pieces” of him (230).
Chapters 13-18 Analysis
These chapters use the recurring juxtaposition of public performance and private intimacy to explore The Conflict Between Public Persona and Private Self. The Equinox Gala in Chapter 13 serves as the primary stage for this conflict, where the necessity of secrecy transforms the opulent setting into a source of alienation and tension. Scott’s interactions with the outside world require a constant performance of a normative, single, heterosexual identity—a persona reinforced by his agent’s pressure to date a model and Carter’s assumption that Elena is his girlfriend. Within this public space, genuine connection with Kip is relegated to clandestine gestures, such as a subtle caress of the wrist during a formal handshake. This stolen moment of physical contact, hidden within a socially acceptable gesture, encapsulates the limitations imposed by Scott’s public life. The brief, sexually charged encounter in the alcove further dramatizes this divide; it is a pocket of privacy carved out of a public sphere, intensifying their desire but also underscoring the constraints of their relationship. This constrained public performance stands in stark contrast to the unrestrained intimacy of Chapter 14, where, within the sanctuary of Scott’s home, they express their feelings freely, highlighting the chasm between Scott’s curated image and his authentic self.
The narrative structure alternates between these public and private spheres, creating a rhythm of tension and release that mirrors the characters’ emotional states. The constraint of the gala is immediately followed by the catharsis of their passionate night together, and the enforced separation of the road trip is punctuated by increasingly intimate communications that accelerate their emotional bond while they are physically apart. This structural choice deepens their private connection at a pace that their public reality cannot accommodate, culminating in their swift declarations of love in Chapter 15. Scott’s panicked return to the apartment to confess his love, driven by the fear that “anything can happen” while he is away (188), reveals an emotional urgency that feels authentic in their private bubble but is dangerously incompatible with his public life. This rapid emotional development, confined entirely to private moments, creates an unsustainable imbalance that foreshadows the inevitable confrontation over the relationship’s secrecy.
This section also advances the theme of Vulnerability as a Catalyst for Growth and Success. Scott’s journey is marked by a gradual shedding of emotional armor. Having built a life on discipline and control to protect his secret, his feelings for Kip force him into uncharted territory. His declaration of love is a significant act of vulnerability, one he admits he has never made to anyone besides his mother. This emotional honesty represents a crucial step toward integrating his private self with his public persona. For Kip, vulnerability manifests through socioeconomic insecurity. The rejection from the museum job in Chapter 16 triggers a crisis of self-worth, making him question his place in Scott’s world of immense wealth and success. This moment of vulnerability, however, serves as a catalyst, forcing him to confront the unsustainability of their arrangement and his own need for a life beyond being Scott’s secret.
The text simultaneously uses sexual intimacy between Scott and Kip to explore the theme of Redefining Masculinity in a Hypermasculine World. With Kip, Scott is a tender and emotionally expressive man who is “all blushing and jittery about a bit of webcam action” (213). His internal world, consumed by his love for Kip, stands in direct opposition to the hypermasculine expectations of his profession. The fluid power dynamics within their sexual relationship further challenge rigid masculine roles. Scott’s assumption of a dominant, instructional role during their phone encounter and his desire to be ridden by Kip demonstrate a comfortable exchange of power that resists fixed definitions of masculine sexual expression. Kip’s arc also contributes to this theme when he vehemently rejects Scott’s $50,000 check. His refusal is an assertion of a masculinity defined not by financial status or dependency, but by pride, self-sufficiency, and personal integrity.
The introduction of the $50,000 check in Chapter 18 symbolizes the power imbalance inherent in the relationship, an issue previously latent but now made explicit. For Scott, the money is a practical gesture of love, a tool to remove obstacles from Kip’s life and share the benefits of his success. For Kip, however, the check symbolizes his own perceived inadequacy and transforms him into a “charity,” threatening the pride he clings to as a core part of his identity. This gesture, born of love but executed without understanding, highlights the socioeconomic chasm between them. It demonstrates that Scott’s wealth is not merely a background detail but a force capable of creating profound conflict. The secrecy of their relationship prevents the normal negotiations and shared vulnerabilities that might otherwise bridge such a divide. The conflict is not about the money itself, but about what it represents: a life-altering power that Scott can wield effortlessly and a dependency that Kip cannot accept.
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