The narrative skips forward in time to the present day. An adult Jasper is meeting Sloane and her fiancé, Sterling Woodcock, at a steakhouse on the night before her wedding. Jasper dislikes Sterling and cannot abide the way he speaks to Sloane. Sterling asks Jasper if he hunts, and the question reminds Sloane of the first time she went hunting and cried afterward. Sterling mockingly says that he can’t believe she ever enjoyed being on a ranch. He then toasts his friends, saying, “To keeping women in the kitchen!” (9).

Jasper recalls the moment when Sloane asked him to go to the prom; at the time, he had to say no because he was 24 years old then. Now, he looks at Sloane with longing, but he knows that he shouldn’t because she is practically family and is engaged to someone else. When Sterling asks Jasper and Sloane about their long-standing friendship, Jasper can sense that he is jealous. Noting Sterling’s possessive attitude toward Sloane, Jasper grows disgusted and leaves.

When Sloane escorts Jasper outside, he asks if she is happy, and Sloane admits that her father introduced her to Sterling; she says that she has only known Sterling for five months. This information takes Jasper aback, and he hugs her tightly, calling her “Sunny,” her nickname. Sloane resents the implication of Jasper’s pity and judgment. They have lost touch over the years because Sloane has been focused on ballet, while Jasper works as a goalie for the hockey team, the Grizzlies. He has been busy at Chestnut Springs during his hockey team’s off-season, and he feels guilty for being consumed by training after the disappointments of the last hockey season. Now, Jasper worries that Sloane’s father is pressuring her into this marriage, given that she is only 28 years old. Sloane defends her father and insists that Jasper doesn’t understand what makes a good parent. Sloane angrily walks away, but Jasper recognizes that she is right. For Jasper, Harvey Eaton is the only father he acknowledges; he does not consider his biological father to be family. Jasper fears that he may be “too late” to win Sloane over, but when he sees her look at him—a look he has noticed before—he realizes that there might still be hope.

On Sloane’s wedding day, Violet is there to help her fix her hair. Sloane squeezes her engagement ring into her hand so tightly that it makes her bleed. She doesn’t love Sterling and doesn’t want to marry him. She thinks of Jasper but tells herself that he only sees her as a friend. Violet notices that Sloane is unhappy and offers to help her escape if she does not want to marry Sterling. Suddenly, Sloane receives a text from a “Private Number,” along with a video of Sterling having sex with a stripper at his bachelor party. Rather than being angry, Sloane is relieved since now she has an ironclad reason to call off the wedding.

Cade and Jasper are preparing for the wedding, and Rhett and his wife, Summer, soon join them. Cade’s wife, Willa, is pregnant. Beau, who is in the military is the only Eaton brother who is not here, and Harvey is also absent. Suddenly, the sound of yelling comes from the bridal suite. Worried about Sloane, Jasper enters the room. He demands that Sterling stop shouting and leave the premises. Sterling curses Jasper and refuses to leave. Jasper suppresses his temper, grabs Sterling by the bowtie, and throws him out of the room. Sloane laughs instead of crying and apologizes to Jasper for what she said to him outside the restaurant; she concedes that he was “being a good friend” (34). Jasper winces at the word “friend” and reflects on his first meeting with Sloane. He asks how he can help her, and she asks him to take her to the ranch.

Jasper texts Cade and Rhett, asking for help in creating a diversion. He helps Sloane remove her heels and gently massages her feet. Sloane has had romantic feelings for Jasper since they were teenagers, but she never found the courage to tell him, fearing that she would be rejected or that her confession would ruin their friendship. Now, Willa fakes a pregnancy complication, giving Jasper and Sloane the chance to escape unnoticed.

It’s cold out, and as Jasper carries Sloane on his back, her wedding dress rips. Her tight hairdo is painful, and when Jasper places her in the car, he pulls the hairpin out, releasing her hair. As they drive, the full weight of her decision suddenly hits her, and she asks Jasper to stop at a liquor store. Jasper offers champagne, but Sloane wants beer. Her feet are now so dirty that they are black, and she jokes about Jasper joining her for a bath at the ranch. When they arrive at Wishing Well Ranch, they are surprised to see Harvey’s truck there, since he should be at the wedding. Harvey tells them that Beau is missing in action.

Beau is in a special forces unit and has been on a mission. He didn’t show up for the transport and has been reported missing. Hearing Harvey’s pain triggers Jasper’s memory of the day his sister died. Harvey apologizes for missing Sloane’s wedding, but she explains that the wedding didn’t happen. Harvey notes that she and Jasper “look so natural together” (54). Sloane pours Harvey another drink and comforts him. Seeing her compassion makes Jasper realize that he loves her as more than just a friend.

Jasper reflects on the time when Beau rescued him and brought him to the ranch. After Jasper’s family fell apart, he was forced to live in his car, but when bullies sought to fight him, Beau intervened and invited him to stay at the Eatons’ home. Jasper has been part of the Eaton family ever since and considers Beau to be “one of the very best things in [his] life” (58). Because of this long history with the family, he is devastated by the news of Beau going missing. 

As he sits alone on the roof, Sloane joins him, just like she did when they were children. Jasper is worried about Beau, but Sloane insists that they stay positive. Her positivity is how she got her nickname, Sunny. He admires the fact that she always finds the good in life despite the world’s constant challenges. Sloane hugs him tightly, and he appreciates her affection, which he struggles to return. Later, as he lies alone in bed, Jasper cries, wishing that Sloane were with him.

Sloane’s father and Sterling bombard her phone with texts that she ignores. The next morning, Jasper leaves the ranch early to return to the city for a hockey game that night. Sloane hops into the passenger seat of his Volvo, noticing that he bought the safest car he could find, and understanding the reason for his caution. Sloane doesn’t know her plans, but for now, she wants to see Jasper play hokey. However, she also wants to be independent and not appear as though she is following him. Jasper has an apartment in the city, but because of Beau’s situation, Jasper plans to stay at the ranch to stay close to his family. They stop by Walmart so that Sloane can buy clothes. While she buys a jersey with Jasper’s number, he signs jerseys for the dressing room attendant’s sons. Sloane jokes that Jasper must have many women, but he says, “Nah, Sunny. You’re my only girl” (75).

Though Jasper is an Olympic gold medal winner, his team, the Grizzlies, is not doing well. At the game, Sloane speaks with Callie, the partner of another Grizzlies player. Callie is surprised to see that someone is there with Jasper because he is usually very private. Sloane explains that she and Jasper are childhood friends. The game doesn’t go well. Sloane can tell that Jasper is distracted and frustrated with his performance, and in the ensuing games, the team’s performance worsens.

By this point, the Grizzlies have lost four consecutive home games with Jasper as the starting goalie. At the post-game press conference, reporters ask Jasper about his plan to fix the problem, hinting that he has become too comfortable in his new long-term contract. Jasper admits to himself that he is not mentally where he needs to be in order to play his best; he plans to see the team psychiatrist. He is also going to change his training regimen. 

In the locker room, he apologizes to his teammates and explains the situation with Beau. The team is empathetic and reminds him that his family comes first. His coach, Roman, meets with him privately and is upset that Jasper didn’t tell him about his problems. When Jasper refuses to take time off, Roman suspends him for two weeks. Infuriated by this measure and frustrated with himself, Jasper leaves the facility, and the only thing that brings him comfort is the fact that Sloane waiting for him amidst a sea of “puck bunnies.”

Sloane and Jasper leave the arena hand-in-hand, but as soon as they get to his car, Jasper vomits. Sloane helps him clean up, and he explains about the two-week suspension. Sloane continues to ignore her phone calls and text messages. She reflects that she got into this position by letting her father push her into an “arranged marriage” with Sterling so that he could make a business deal. However, she still wears her engagement ring because she fears that taking it off will mean that she has to completely change her life.

As they drive to the ranch, she reflects on the fact that she has been in love with Jasper since she first met him. When her mother calls to make sure that she is safe, Sloane takes the call. Sloane’s mother understands her desire to run away. Before the wedding, Sloane sensed that her mother was hesitant about the event despite her silence. Now, Sloane wonders if her mom regrets her own marriage to Robert, Sloane’s father. Sloane asks for Jasper’s advice on what to do next, but he says that she doesn’t need a man to run her life. Sloane longs to tell Jasper that he is the only man she wants telling her what to do.

Since the tragedies of his childhood, Jasper has often struggled with his mental health, but living with the Eatons and regularly seeing a therapist have both helped. Alone in his bedroom, Jasper finds himself “sitting with those dark thoughts like they’re an old friend” (105). He punches the wall angrily, and Sloane comes in to check on him. She presses a cold cloth to his hand, telling him that she is returning the favor for the time he massaged her mangled feet. Jasper remembers that because the moment she refers to became too intimate for him, he never did it again. Now, Sloane is worried about Jasper and refuses to leave him alone. He confesses that his mental health is a mess because he is trying to deal with his suspension and the news about Beau all at once. He is also angry with himself for almost letting Sloane marry Sterling, as this would have trapped her in a miserable and potentially dangerous marriage. After a tense moment of eye contact when they both realize that they are not fully dressed, they curl up in bed and reminisce about childhood memories on the ranch before falling asleep innocently together.

Jasper recalls Sloane asking him to be her date to the prom. At that time, he turned her down in front of the entire family, which was humiliating. His decision was based on their age gap, and he also believed that he could never be good enough for her. These inhibitions kept him from being honest with himself and with her about his true feelings, and he has regretted this decision ever since. Now, as he lies in bed holding Sloane, Jasper wonders if they could be more than friends.

Jasper goes to the kitchen for coffee and finds Harvey and Cade at the table. Violet and her husband, Cole, need a new shipment of hay, but Harvey and Cole don’t want to leave because they fear that they might miss news about Beau. Jasper offers to take the hay over, even though it is a treacherous trip this time of year. When Sloane walks in and offers to go with him, Jasper wonders what he will do with all his unresolved feelings on a road trip alone with Sloane.