At Cara’s birthday party, Garrett avoids alcohol because he is Jennie’s designated driver. Jaxon bets Garrett that he can get Jennie to come home with him that night. To make Garrett jealous, Jennie flirts with Jaxon, leading Garrett to ask Carter to intervene. Carter protectively separates the two, leaving Jennie furious with Garrett. Garrett follows Jennie when she runs off and finds her hiding in a closet. In the confined space, he playfully proposes a friends-with-benefits arrangement. He arouses her before abruptly leaving her unsatisfied.

After driving Carter and Olivia home, Garrett takes Jennie to her apartment. He teases her at her door but leaves her again. Frustrated, Jennie tries to masturbate but is too preoccupied with thoughts of Garrett to find release. She goes to his apartment and agrees to his proposition to “play.”

Garrett and Jennie agree to a casual arrangement with several rules: They must keep it a secret from Carter, have no sleepovers, and, at Jennie’s insistence, have no penetrative sex. Jennie quietly explains that it has been several years since she has had sex, and she is not ready to take that step. Garrett agrees, and they decide to be “committed friends with benefits” (119). They shower together, and Garrett walks her back to her apartment, ending the night with a kiss.

Jennie has coffee with Holly and Hank to plan Olivia’s baby shower. A fellow dancer, Krissy, and her friends, both named Ashley, see them at the coffee shop and mock Jennie for socializing with older people. At dance practice, her coach Mikhail criticizes her lack of chemistry with Simon.

Garrett picks Jennie up after practice. Simon follows her into the parking lot, continuing to pressure her. Garrett confronts Simon about his unwanted advances, telling him to stop. In the car, Garrett gives Jennie a coffee and kisses her, admitting he enjoys the “boyfriend crap.” They go to his apartment for another sexual encounter, after which they order pizza and watch hockey. Jennie is delighted to discover Garrett’s stash of American snacks. As he tickles her back, she falls asleep in his lap.

While on a road trip with his team, Garrett sexts with Jennie. At a bar, his friends notice he is uninterested in other women, and he tells them he would prefer to just “Netflix and chill” with someone (138). His conversation is interrupted when Jennie sends him a photo of two dildos, asking which one she would use if she were considering sleeping with him in the future and wanted to adjust to his size. 

Flustered, Garrett rushes back to the hotel. He and Jennie have phone sex via video call. Afterward, they continue talking until his teammate Adam returns. Adam, who is drunk, discovers Garrett’s secret and agrees to keep it in exchange for Garrett’s imported cookie butter.

Mikhail, Jennie’s dance coach, suggests she and Simon pretend to be a couple during their dance number in the upcoming Valentine’s Day recital. Jennie firmly refuses the idea, especially the part that would require them to kiss at the end. Simon later apologizes for his past behavior, and Jennie cautiously agrees to give him a second chance as a friend.

At a coffee shop, a barista named Nate asks Jennie out, but she quickly realizes he is only interested in her connection to her famous brother. Krissy and her friends witness the interaction and taunt Jennie about the rejection. Later, during dinner with her family, Jennie announces that she has been recommended for a job teaching at the National Ballet in Toronto. Overwhelmed with emotion, Carter gives Jennie his Mercedes-Benz for the winter. That night, Jennie meets Garrett in their building’s parking garage, and they begin kissing passionately in the elevator, where they are discovered by their neighbor Emily.

In Garrett’s apartment, Jennie tells Garrett about her difficult day while he performs oral sex on her. When she mentions Mikhail’s fake-dating idea, Garrett becomes possessive, insisting he does not want to share her. Afterward, they eat cereal, and Jennie confides that her true dream is to open a dance studio for children. Garrett’s mention of an ex-boyfriend makes Jennie uncomfortable, and she withdraws. He coaxes her to stay, and they watch TV. He tells her that while he must go home for Christmas and will miss her recital, he plans to watch the livestream.

Garrett is annoyed when Jennie becomes distant, using her period as an excuse to avoid him. His teammates suggest she is giving him an “out.” Unconvinced, Garrett goes to her apartment and finds her crying while watching a Disney movie. He persuades her to come to his apartment and help decorate his Christmas tree. They have a fun, festive evening making ornaments and drinking hot chocolate. Garrett’s younger sister, Gabby, video calls and teases him about Jennie being his girlfriend. 

Later, Garrett and Jennie slow dance, and he gently asks about her past. She becomes defensive and tries to leave, but he convinces her to stay. She falls asleep on his couch, and he carries her back to her own apartment late at night.

Garrett is home in Nova Scotia for Christmas but feels a strain in his relationship with his father. When Garrett was younger, his father had an alcohol addiction, but he has been sober for years, and Garrett sometimes feels like he just reminds his father of that time. The family gathers to watch the livestream of Jennie’s dance recital, and everyone is impressed by her talent. Garrett calls her afterward to praise her performance. She expresses insecurity that he might meet someone else and asks him to end things cleanly if he does. He reassures her, calling her one of his best friends.

Jennie shares that her deepest Christmas wish is to do the secret handshake from The Parent Trap with her father one more time. In turn, Garrett opens up about his father’s past alcohol addiction and how it affected him. He asks if her ex-boyfriend ever hurt her physically; she says no but implies significant emotional pain. She admits she is not ready to talk about it but would like to tell him one day. The conversation leaves Garrett questioning whether “friends” is an adequate word for what they are becoming to each other.