The next morning, Wyatt texts Blake to meet him at the playing field, where a badminton net has appeared overnight for a mandatory family tournament. When Blake presses Wyatt about the previous night, he refuses to discuss it. She tells him she’s hiking with the two Spencers to visit a tree where Darlie, the ghost said to haunt the dock, allegedly met her lover Raymond. Alarmed, Wyatt insists on joining them.

On the trail, Wyatt brings up the bedroom encounter, denying he almost kissed Blake and claiming he was in a creative trance. The podcaster called “Little Spencer” later tells Blake that Wyatt was clearly about to kiss her. Wyatt questions the legend’s authenticity, but the Spencers cite family interviews as evidence.

While taking photos, Blake and Wyatt discuss all-consuming love in the context of Darlie and her possible suicide. Wyatt describes loving someone so deeply that losing them makes you want to stop existing. Blake admits she thought Isaac felt that way about her, but his grand gestures were ultimately shallow. Wyatt grows uncomfortable and dismisses such love as overrated.

Back at the house, Blake and Wyatt engage in flirtatious banter and an intensely competitive badminton match, both eventually removing their shirts in the heat. During a break, Blake rubs ice on her neck to cool down. Wyatt accuses her of trying to tempt him, which she denies while feeling aroused watching sweat trail down his torso. After Wyatt wins, Blake receives a call from Beau Di Laurentis claiming her as his badminton partner for the family tournament, followed by a similar text from another man, AJ Connelly, whom she turns down.

After prepping dinner, Blake finds Wyatt at the outdoor shower behind the boathouse, naked and masturbating. She freezes, unable to look away, and their eyes meet as he continues.

Wyatt sees Blake watching him and continues masturbating, aroused by her presence, deliberately finishing while she watches. Internally, he reflects that he has crossed a line, just as he did during the encounter with Blake on Christmas Eve two years ago.

Later, they eat dinner on the deck, acting as if nothing happened. Afterwards, Wyatt takes whiskey to the deck and Blake joins him. She asks what he was thinking about while masturbating, but he refuses to answer. She brings up an earlier comment about him being “bossy” in bed, and he explains he wants intensity during sex—complete trust, vulnerability, and total focus from his partner. He tells her she would hate how much he would want from her. Blake appears visibly affected, but Wyatt abruptly ends the conversation and goes to bed.

Cole calls Wyatt to praise the song he sent and urges him to record in Nashville. He correctly identifies Blake as Wyatt’s muse. Wyatt admits he wants to sleep with her, which Cole warns against, explaining that having sex with a muse can either enhance or completely kill creativity. Cole gives Wyatt permission to end his celibacy but insists he not have sex with Blake.

Convinced, Wyatt texts Mira, a woman from the previous summer, asking her out for a drink. When Blake finds him leaving, he deliberately hurts her by confirming he’s meeting the woman who sent him explicit photos, calling her a “good time.” He sees the pain in Blake’s eyes before she retreats to the kitchen.

Blake stays home, upset about Wyatt’s date. Isaac texts, accusing her of using the toaster dispute as an excuse to reconcile; she insists she only wants her property back. Landon Kerns, the local bartender who flirted with Blake, sends Blake an Instagram message inviting her to a small party at his cabin. Deciding she deserves to have fun, she accepts and texts Wyatt the address, receiving no response. At Landon’s, she meets his small group of friends and, when they run out of beer, the group decides to drink absinthe.

In his Jeep, Wyatt is with Mira but cannot become aroused, finding himself picturing Blake instead. Realizing it’s wrong to use Mira, he stops. His phone rings repeatedly: It’s Blake, extremely drunk on absinthe and needing a ride. Wyatt agrees immediately, drops off an annoyed Mira, and speeds to the address.

He arrives to find Blake slumped on the front porch, shoeless and dizzy. Furious that Landon left her alone in such a vulnerable state, Wyatt confronts him when he emerges, pins him against the wall, and threatens him for abandoning her. After warning Landon to stay away from her, Wyatt scoops Blake into his arms and carries her to the Jeep.

Blake takes a long, cold shower to sober up and finds Wyatt waiting in the hallway to ensure she’s safe. Unable to sleep, she joins him on the dock. When she asks about his date, he says it was short and he wasn’t interested. Blake shares her realization about Isaac: His grand gestures masked a shallow personality fixated on appearances. Wyatt tells her she has a depth that terrifies superficial men like Isaac.

Blake explains her fear of being truly known, though she now craves deeper connection. Wyatt invites her to share his lounge chair for warmth and confesses he’s not built for relationships, admitting he fears that if someone saw his chaotic interior, they wouldn’t want him. Blake says she feels ordinary compared to her accomplished family and friends, and Wyatt tells her never to compare herself to others.

They share a blanket and talk through the night until sunrise. Wyatt touches Blake’s face and seems about to kiss her, then pulls back. He reveals he was getting oral sex when she called but stopped because he wasn’t interested in Mira. Blake recognizes he’s trying to convince himself he’s incapable of emotional depth. Wyatt gets up and leaves her alone on the dock.

Wyatt lies in bed, overwhelmed by the intimacy of his all-night conversation with Blake. He fantasizes about her while mentally listing reasons it’s a terrible idea—chiefly that she’s his creative muse—and resolves to maintain more distance.

He spends the day alone on the boat writing music, feeling inspired. His twin sister Gigi calls and warns him not to mistreat Blake. When he mentions his recent productivity, she suggests collaborating with their mother, but he refuses. Gigi accuses him of hurting their mother by constantly rejecting her support. She mentions their father’s plans to build their mother a recording studio in the Tahoe house basement.

When Blake returns early from an outing with Annaliese, she works on the Darlie puzzle while Wyatt keeps his distance. She notes disapprovingly that he’s drinking heavily and dismisses their previous talk as insignificant. He agrees, though he knows it was. She accuses him of treating her like a joke, referencing her teenage crush on him. Wyatt insists she’s never been a joke to him. Around midnight, he hears Blake leave through the back door and finds her standing on the boathouse roof near the edge.

Wyatt rushes to the dock and confronts Blake on the roof. She claims she’s facing her fear of heights, and they argue. He angrily suggests her behavior is an attempt to manipulate him into sex. She laughs and explains she’s reacting to a text from Isaac, who blamed her for his cheating by calling her passionless and boring.

Wyatt climbs onto the roof. Blake says Isaac might be right: She’s just a safe place for men, never their fire. She declares she wants to be someone’s obsession and accuses Wyatt of proving how forgettable she is by pretending not to remember their Christmas Eve encounter. Wyatt confesses he remembered everything the next morning but feigned ignorance because acknowledging it would open a door they could never close. He admits he wants her but insists he can only offer casual sex and will ultimately hurt her. Blake touches his face. He tells her to stop, but she says he doesn’t truly want her to. He warns that he will ruin her; she retorts that she might ruin him in return. She pulls him into an intense kiss, which he returns passionately before tearing away and calling it a mistake, claiming he’s drunk. Blake calls out the false narratives he tells himself about being incapable of depth, sarcastically calls him “Daddy,” gives him the finger, and storms off.

Blake wakes up reeling from the kiss but frustrated by Wyatt’s insistence it was a mistake. In the kitchen, Wyatt tries to blame alcohol again, and Blake mocks his drinking and smoking and declares she’s done caring about his behavior. She tells him they’re returning to their original agreement to stay out of each other’s way.

Later, Blake meets Annaliese at a sports bar and recounts everything. Annaliese dismisses Wyatt’s excuses as typical behavior from someone experiencing deeper feelings than they’re comfortable with and suggests Blake “play games” to make him pursue her. Blake says she hates manipulation and wants someone with clear intentions. Reflecting on Isaac’s accusations, Blake realizes neither of them truly desired the other intensely.

Annaliese points out the bar is full of young fire cadets from the local academy and calls over her brother Eddie, whom Blake remembers from previous summers. Eddie introduces his friend Dave, and Blake and Dave share immediate mutual attraction. Noticing the chemistry, Annaliese suggests they all do shots.