Pucking Wild

Ryan drives back from practice with Ilmari and tries to fill the awkward silence, though Ilmari says he enjoys it. Ryan asks how Ilmari knew that Rachel was “the one,” and Ilmari explains that Rachel saw him like no one else did. Ilmari asks Ryan the same question about Tess, and he says it was her laugh. 

When Ryan gets home, he tells Tess what Ilmari told him: Life is short, and they need to live it. Tess feels especially emotional after an intense round of sex, and she asks Ryan to stay and hold her while they catch their breath.

Tess wants to lie in bed all morning, but she has to prepare for the gala tomorrow, and Ryan has to get ready for his game that night. Ryan had expected Tess to slip away before he woke up again, but Tess admits that doing so is her “self-destructive way of avoiding getting hurt” (408). After they have sex, Tess asks Ryan to stay with her, but Tess’s phone rings; it's Cheryl, reminding her of what she has to do today.

While they are preparing for the gala, Cheryl shows Tess a box that came to the office for Tess. Inside, Tess finds intimate photos of her and Ryan that must have been taken by the person Troy hired to follow her. Troy left no note this time, and she knows that he wants her to call him. When she does, Troy threatens to release the photos to the tabloids, ruining not only her reputation but also Ryan’s, which is what really scares Tess. Troy tells her to come back to Cincinnati by Monday and not to see Ryan again; he says he wants to discuss an amicable divorce in person, but Tess knows that Troy will never grant her the divorce she wants. She knows that Troy must have other information about Ryan and tries to persuade him to keep Ryan out of this, but Troy refuses, saying that Tess will decide Ryan’s fate.

Ryan feels nervous, as he hasn’t seen Tess by the end of practice. However, Shelby tries to reassure him that she will come. Ryan is desperate to tell Tess that he loves her—something he wanted to do before her phone rang that morning—and is distracted during the game, as many teammates notice. 

During a break, Ryan approaches Rachel and asks her where Tess is. She admits that Tess will be staying with her tonight because she needs space. Ryan says that he loves Tess, and Rachel begs him not to tell her that. Ryan knows that Troy must have threatened Tess and that Tess wants Rachel to keep that from him. Jake approaches and tells Ryan that he needs to tell Tess how he feels, but Rachel argues with him, knowing Tess has a plan for how to deal with everything and saying that they should all trust her. Jake mentions that Troy threatened Ryan and tells him to check the boxes in her closet to see the full story. Ryan tells the coaches he needs to leave because of a family emergency, and they let him go home.

When Ryan gets home, he sees that Tess used the time he was at the game to pack. He bypasses Tess and goes to find the boxes in the closet. He is hurt that Tess didn’t tell him that they were being followed, but he knows she must be feeling even worse than he does and wants to comfort her. Just then, Tess walks into the room, shocked to see him. He knows Tess must be leaving under Troy’s orders, and she ultimately tells him the full story about Troy’s threats. They both admit that they are in love with one another, and Ryan tells Tess to take control as they have sex.

Ryan tells Tess that he left her a present before the game, and she opens the box to find the jersey he wore when he injured his knee. After explaining how he was injured in the first place, Ryan tells her that wearing his jersey will make their relationship public but assures her that they can weather whatever attention their relationship attracts together. They have sex on top of Troy’s blackmail photos as they reaffirm their love for one another.

When the Prices arrive at the Out of the Net gala, Tess tells them that they have already raised nearly $.5 million from early donations. Tess mingles with various donors and council members before slipping away to see her friends, who tell her to enjoy the success of the gala. Poppy joins Tess and Rachel, and it is clear to the other women that she has just been having sex in the bathroom. Additionally, she spits out her first sip of wine before she can swallow it, hinting that she is pregnant. Poppy begs Rachel and Tess not to tell anyone that she doesn’t know who the father is (thus setting up the major plot points of the following novel in the series). 

Then Nancy comes over to tell Tess that rain is on the way, threatening their planned beach walk. She also tells Tess that a donor wants to speak with her and that his name is Troy.

At the gala, Ryan is approached by a man he doesn’t know who talks with him about his contract and endorsement deals, making Ryan feel uncomfortable. He tries to make a polite exit, but the man hands him a document that he wants him to sign. Ryan has a hard time reading the small and blotchy print until the man tells him that he has just been served. As Ryan wonders why this man wanted to watch him struggle to read the papers, he realizes that the man must be Troy. Troy tells Ryan that he doesn’t want to make a scene in front of important people and reporters, but he threatens Ryan, his team, and his family, all while teasing him about his dyslexia and his irrelevance outside of hockey.

Everything fades to white noise once Tess realizes Troy is at the gala. When she snaps back to her senses, she asks Nancy to get Ryan and Ilmari. However, Jake and Ilmari find Tess first, and she tells them that Troy is there and is threatening even the Prices; she also tells them about Troy’s plans to hurt Ryan. As Tess approaches Rachel for help finding Ryan, Troy appears and asks Tess to step outside to talk with him.

Troy tries to instigate a fight as the Prices defend Tess and beg her not to go with Troy. Jake, Caleb, and Ilmari all form a united front against Troy, protecting Tess, ignoring his taunting, and eventually forcing him to go. Before he leaves, Troy slips an envelope with a donation into Ilmari’s pocket and mentions that he didn’t come to see Tess anyway. The Prices split up to look for Ryan once Troy has left, but Tess knows Troy must have already found him.

Ryan can’t be found, and all of the Rays start to notice that something is wrong with Tess; they stand on alert to protect their own. Tess runs down the beach and finally sees Ryan, but he tells her not to come any closer. Ryan mentions that he thinks the document he has is a restraining order but that he can’t understand it, explaining that he has dyslexia and dysgraphia; Tess remembers several moments that make more sense in light of this but can’t believe Troy would weaponize Ryan’s disability against him. Ryan says he didn’t want to tell her about his diagnoses because he didn’t want to give Tess another reason to think he wasn’t good enough for her. Tess asks him to trust her and to let her see the papers. When she looks at the document, Tess sees that the restraining order is fraudulent and knows that she can finally beat Troy. As the storm rolls in and they embrace, Tess vows that she won’t run from Ryan again. 

A few of the Rays find Tess and Ryan and bring them back inside, where the whole team is waiting for them. They ask what Tess wants to do next, all standing up for her against Troy. Ryan says he wants to play offense rather than defense, and Tess says she has a plan to get Troy away from her once and for all.

Ryan and five of his teammates arrive at PFH’s office and tell the receptionists that Troy is expecting them. Two more players and Ryan’s lawyer come up on the next elevator, and a few of them are recording as Troy steps into the lobby and tells them to leave. Two of the Rays dump some of the less salacious pictures of Ryan and Tess on the receptionists’ desks as other firm members peek out of their offices. Ryan reveals that they caught the illegal photographer and that he sold Troy out. He also pulls out a new copy of the restraining order, which Troy illegally filed for Tess with the help of his mother’s court connections. 

When Troy tries to claim Ryan doesn’t know anything, Ryan agrees but summons his lawyer, who mentions that Troy’s malpractice and abusive behavior are more than enough to get him disbarred and possibly arrested. Troy’s full character has been revealed to his office, and when he asks what Ryan wants, Ryan hands him divorce papers, saying that he and Tess will show him mercy if he signs them. Yet when Troy sees this, he laughs, saying he already signed the divorce papers.

Tess is sitting by her phone in Jacksonville for news about Troy when Bea Owens shows up at her office, claiming to have missed her. Bea continues to act as if Troy is the victim in their marriage, but she eventually hands Tess signed divorce papers, implying that Tess shouldn’t press charges now that she has her freedom. Tess immediately sees the divorce papers for the buyout that they are, and she knows that Bea’s name is involved in the fraudulent restraining order. When Tess brings this up, Bea says that she knew Tess and Troy’s marriage wouldn’t work out and that she only took Tess under her wing because she pitied her, knowing she could never fit in with those of Troy and Bea’s class. Rather than getting upset, Tess tells Bea that she has found a home in herself and with the people who love her, letting her happiness be her revenge.

Bea asks for Tess’s word that she won’t press charges, and Tess tells Bea that she and Troy need to go to therapy and send proof that they are doing so to her lawyer; otherwise, she will tell the truth about the family’s malpractice. She also tells Bea to make a sizable donation to Out of the Net, which would help PFH with its image and give it a tax break. Bea notices that these are all things done for others’ benefit, and when she asks Tess what she gets out of this bargain, Tess responds, “I get to be free […] And I get to never see you again” (516).

Rachel, Poppy, and Shelby are surprised when Tess tells them that she is essentially letting Troy off the hook, but Tess knows that this is what is best for her. Though the women support her decision, they also encourage Tess to consider her options. As they walk along the beach, Rachel tells them about her grandmother’s tradition of speaking into seashells, giving them her anger and insecurities before throwing the shells into the ocean, and the four women do the same. Tess feels loved and at home.

When Ryan gets back from Cincinnati, he won’t let Tess pick him up at the airport, instead asking her to meet him at the address of an empty house. Ryan had a whole speech for what he wanted to tell Tess, but as soon as he sees her, they both know that they need to have sex. Afterward, he tells Tess that he bought the house that they are in with the large signing bonus from his new contract. Ryan admits that he bought the house for Tess, and she tells him that she is scared of how much she feels for him. They both agree to take things slow and avoid labels, but Tess admits that she might want to marry Ryan one day, shocking him.

One year later, Ryan wakes up to a house full of rose bouquets and other romantic decorations that suggest Tess is going to propose to him. Ryan grows even more suspicious when Tess is nowhere to be found and won’t answer his calls. Later, when he is walking with Jake and Caleb, the men see a plane spelling out Tess’s proposal in skywriting, and Ryan is touched that Tess made sure others were there to help him read it. In his pocket, Ryan finds a name change application from a month ago showing that Tess already changed her last name to his. 

Before the hockey game that night, a barbershop quartet comes to serenade Ryan in the locker room. When Ryan finally gets on the ice, he sees Tess on the jumbotron; when he finds her in the audience, she asks him to marry her. Ryan says he will marry her right now, but Tess says she planned the wedding for after the playoff games. Ryan gives Tess an engagement ring he got the week they moved in together, and the crowd goes wild.