Right Man, Right Time

Two years before the main story, Silas Tatters, a star right wing for the Vancouver Agitators hockey team, comes home carrying an engagement ring for his long-term girlfriend, Sarah. He discovers her in bed with another woman while a man watches from a nearby chair. Sarah blames his neglect and reveals the affair has lasted four months. Devastated, Silas ends the relationship and vows never to let anyone betray him again.

In the present, 21-year-old Ollie Owens, a journalism student interning at Alan Roberts's media company, learns she has been assigned hockey as her final topic, a subject she knows nothing about. The assignment was arranged by Candace Roundhouse, a vindictive coworker nursing a grudge. That evening, Ollie's ex-boyfriend Yonny Biliak appears as Candace's new boyfriend. Humiliated, Ollie claims she has a boyfriend present. When Candace dares her to prove it, Ollie approaches the nearest man sitting alone, warns him she is about to kiss him, and does.

The man is Silas, drinking alone after learning Sarah has been hired by the Agitators' marketing department. He proposes a transactional arrangement: They will pretend to date so he can keep Sarah at a distance and ease his teammates' concern, while Ollie gains help with her hockey assignment and a date for events. Ollie, who did not recognize him as a professional athlete, agrees.

At her dorm, they negotiate terms. Silas offers access to his home gym, help with her article, and attendance at her events. Ollie will attend his events and act as his girlfriend in public, with hand-holding and kissing but nothing sexual. Their cover story is that Silas hit on Ollie at a bar.

The arrangement quickly grows complicated. Roberts learns Ollie is dating an Agitator and reveals a vendetta against the team's owner, who blocked his attempt to purchase the franchise. He pressures Ollie to write an exposé, making clear her graduation depends on compliance. Ollie confides in her best friend, Ross, and privately resolves not to write it.

Meanwhile, the fake relationship deepens. Silas's teammates welcome Ollie warmly, particularly his close friend Pacey Lawes and Pacey's fiancée, Winnie. At the Agitators' family skate party, Silas teaches Ollie to ice skate. But when Sarah appears, he freezes, staring at his ex throughout the evening and neglecting Ollie. He later apologizes, and Ollie tearfully admits she felt invisible, echoing how Yonny used to treat her. Silas stays the night, holding her in her small bed, and learns her full name is Oliana.

Their connection deepens at the zoo on the anniversary of Ollie's grandmother's death. At an earlier fundraiser, Ollie had nervously fabricated an elaborate cover story about meeting Silas at a zoo involving donkeys and his fly being unzipped. Now, at the real zoo, his fly is genuinely open at the donkey exhibit, making the fiction partially true. In his car afterward, Silas leans in to kiss Ollie but pulls away. Sexual tension escalates: Silas sends her a weighted blanket, a coffee maker, and his cologne. In his sauna after a workout, they are intimate for the first time, but Silas resists a real relationship, believing he is too damaged.

When Ollie brings Roberts's exposé demand to Silas, hoping for help brainstorming an alternative angle, he erupts, accusing her of exploitation. They part furiously. Silas then forces Ollie to attend a sponsorship party by threatening to reveal Roberts's request to the team's owner. His teammate Posey has warned him that Sarah will attend and wants him back, so Silas needs Ollie as a shield. Ollie retaliates by spending the evening taunting him physically.

On Ollie's birthday, she and Ross attend Silas's first home game. His jealousy breaks when another man dances with Ollie at a club afterward; Silas takes her home and is intimate with her but tells her he wants to deserve her first. Days later, Ollie rushes to Silas's private airport before an away trip, convinced he wants to end things. Instead, he cups her face and tells her he does not want the arrangement anymore. He wants them to be real. During a FaceTime call from his hotel, Silas tells Ollie the full truth about Sarah's infidelity. Ollie responds with compassion, and when Silas returns, they consummate their relationship.

Ollie submits her final article, a lifestyle piece about the daily grind of a professional hockey player. Silas reads and approves it. She mentions making a few minor changes before submitting. Then the published version appears with an unauthorized paragraph revealing that Silas's ex-girlfriend cheated on him. Silas recalls Ollie's mention of changes and concludes she betrayed him. He stops answering her calls.

Ollie discovers the alteration and is horrified. She quits after confronting Roberts, who confirms changes were made during editing. On her way out, Candace admits she overheard Ollie accidentally mention Silas's past during a private lunch with Ross and inserted the paragraph at Roberts's encouragement. Ollie headbutts Candace. She loses her internship credit, is expelled from the School of Journalism, and loses her housing scholarship.

Ollie goes to Silas's apartment to explain, but he refuses to listen. When she tells him she loves him, Silas tells her she is dead to him and orders her out. Left with nothing, Ollie remembers a business card from JP Cane, whom she met at the sponsorship party. She flies to Los Angeles and waits in the lobby of Cane Enterprises for over eight hours. JP finally invites her in, and when he calls Roberts on speakerphone, Roberts unwittingly confirms Candace made the edits. JP recommends Ollie for an editing position with The Jock Report, and she relocates to LA.

Weeks later, Ross approaches Silas and tells him the truth: Ollie's mention of the cheating was accidental, overheard by Candace. Ollie quit, was expelled, and moved to LA because she chose to protect Silas rather than cooperate with Roberts. Silas enlists JP's help and writes an article for The Jock Report titled "The Truth About Silas Tatters," confirming he was cheated on, clearing Ollie's name, and declaring that losing her is his biggest loss. At the office, Ryot Bisley, a founder of The Jock Report, hands Ollie the article under the guise of an editing assignment. As she reads and begins to cry, Silas appears in person. He kneels, apologizes, and tells her he loves her. Ollie says she has always been his, and they reconcile.

In the epilogue, Ollie moves back to Vancouver with an expedited work visa, working remotely for The Jock Report from Silas's penthouse. Silas plans to propose during the off-season trip to Banff. His team is having its best season, and he and Ollie are building a life that began with an impulsive kiss in a bar.