From Marcus’s perspective, he waits outside the Vipers Arena after Preston’s episode. He reflects on his original plan to get close to Preston to gain insider information about Graystone Ridge and bring down his own father, Andrew Osborn. The plan has grown complicated, as Marcus now has a growing attraction to Preston.

Marcus enters the locker room to find Preston standing in only tight black boxer briefs and is captivated by his physique, tattoos—including a serpent across his entire right half, a fractured glass tattoo on his sternum, and a yin-and-yang behind his ear—and the scars on his back. Preston threatens him not to tell anyone about what he witnessed. Marcus agrees to keep the secret but asks for something in return. As Marcus moves closer, Preston warns him not to kiss him, and Marcus respects the boundary. When Preston then asks whether Marcus wants to hurt him, Marcus grabs Preston’s nape, and pins him against a locker, spanking him with his hand. He demands Preston verbally state that he wants to be hurt. After Preston complies, Marcus grabs his hockey stick, and Preston watches with excitement. Marcus then asks for Preston’s safe word, “Friends,” and tells him they will never be that.

Preston struggles internally with his reaction to Marcus. He typically dislikes being physically overpowered, but he finds himself allowing and enjoying Marcus’s control. Marcus hits Preston with a hockey stick and makes him count the strikes aloud. The pain is intensely arousing, and though Preston considers using his safe word, he instead chooses to continue.

Marcus eventually stops the impact play after noticing the welts on Preston’s skin. He grabs fistfuls of Preston’s ass, and the encounter escalates into nonpenetrative sexual contact. When Preston tells Marcus not to penetrate him, Marcus respects the boundary, and the encounter continues until they both orgasm. Afterward, Marcus licks the sensitive spot behind Preston’s ear, triggering unwanted memories, and Preston instinctively backhands Marcus across the face.

Marcus does not retaliate. Instead, he gives Preston two candies, wishes him luck in his game, and leaves. Alone, Preston acknowledges it was the best sexual experience he has ever had and is now facing a major sexuality crisis.

From Marcus’s point of view, he receives good news from his coach about potential NHL interest. Afterward, his half-sister, Serena Osborn, visits him, and Marcus reflects that she is monitoring him to protect her position as the Osborn heir. Serena tells him about their family’s aplastic anaemia and a secret half-brother, “Patient X,” who was genetically selected and conceived to serve as a donor for Lance and Leo. She explains that Leo later died and Patient X reportedly died in a house fire, while Lance survived for several more years before his recent death. She uses the story to warn Marcus about the dangers of being powerless.

That night, Dahlia invites Marcus to a club in Graystone Ridge to make her current fling, Kane, jealous. Marcus agrees, also hoping to provoke Preston. At the club, he dances with Dahlia, and Preston becomes visibly angry, eventually putting Marcus in a chokehold. After Kane and Dahlia leave, Preston drags Marcus away with him.

In the alley, Preston slams Marcus against a wall, angry that Marcus has appeared in his town and social circle, while insisting his reaction has nothing to do with Dahlia. They argue over whether Marcus belongs in Graystone Ridge and Preston’s social world, and Marcus retaliates by twisting Preston’s arm and pinning him. The physical confrontation quickly becomes sexually charged. When Marcus puts his thumb in Preston’s mouth, Preston bites him. Marcus responds by forcing his fingers down Preston’s throat, leaving Preston too overstimulated for the unwanted memories he expects to surface. As Marcus rubs his erection against Preston’s, Preston finds himself getting hard.

In the alley, the sexual tension escalates. At Marcus’s direction, a highly aroused Preston begins actively participating in their sexual encounter, something he recognizes he did not do during their previous encounter. Their sexual contact intensifies until Preston orgasms. Marcus comes soon after.

Afterward, Marcus kneels and the encounter continues with oral sex and further sexual contact. Though initially shocked, Preston finds that the accompanying pain adds to his pleasure. He comes again, and Marcus swallows his semen. Marcus then kisses Preston deeply, crossing Preston’s explicit no-kissing boundary. Preston punches Marcus, yelling at him for crossing that line. Before leaving, Marcus gives Preston more mango candies, revealing he always carries them for him. When Preston questions whether the candies were meant for Dahlia, Marcus tells him not to be jealous, which Preston denies, and tells Preston that he is the only one he wants. Marcus then kisses Preston on the forehead before leaving.

A week later, Marcus attends a Vipers game to watch Preston, using a front-row seat from Serena. He is mesmerized by Preston’s joyful performance on the ice, which reminds him of their first meeting as children. A flashback to their first college game three years prior reveals Marcus’s anger that Preston didn’t remember him, which fueled his on-ice aggression. Their physical contact during that game intensified Marcus’s unexplained physical reaction to Preston; looking back, he identifies Preston as his “queer awakening.”

In the present, Preston notices Marcus in the crowd. Each time Preston scores, he looks at Marcus, who responds with winks and waves. After the game, Marcus waits for Preston outside and watches as a female fan flirts with and touches Preston, then questions Preston about her. Marcus then gives Preston two candies. During their conversation, Preston tells Marcus in French that he is “terribly beautiful tonight” (232) but falsely translates the phrase as meaning that Marcus is “terribly annoying.” Marcus understands enough French to recognize the lie. Preston then gives Marcus his scarf before leaving.

From Marcus’s point of view, he confronts Preston via text about his emotional unavailability. Preston belittles their connection as fleeting. In response, Marcus ends their arrangement. He anticipates that Preston will not let this stand. A few days later, Marcus discovers his motorcycle on fire, with a message written in what appears to be blood: “I destroy what I can’t have” (240). 

Marcus goes home to find his father, Andrew Osborn, waiting with a new, expensive motorcycle. Marcus rejects the gift. Andrew warns Marcus to stay away from the “pathologically troubled” Preston, telling him that Vencor prohibits homosexuality and that their relationship could get Preston killed. Meanwhile, Preston continues to text Marcus from new numbers, which Marcus repeatedly blocks.

From Preston’s perspective, he is on a cliffside, heavily medicated and drinking on the anniversary of his mother’s death. He remembers his mother discovering an unidentified man sexually abusing him as a child and attacking the man with a lamp. She dies by suicide the following day, and Preston believes she died because of him. In his intoxicated state, Preston considers driving off the cliff. He receives a call from Marcus, who realizes something is wrong and learns Preston’s location. During their conversation, Marcus tells Preston that he wants more from their relationship than sex, while Preston resists the idea of involving feelings.

Preston begins to hallucinate, and his dropped lighter ignites alcohol spilled inside the car. During the hallucination, Preston hits the accelerator, but Marcus arrives and pulls him from the vehicle moments before it explodes. In Marcus’s arms, Preston realizes he can breathe again and that the static in his head has dulled. Preston initiates a passionate kiss, during which the static disappears completely for a moment. Marcus reveals that he contacted Kane to ensure someone came for Preston, and leaves as Jude arrives. Left with Jude, Preston can only think about the kiss and his need for that feeling again.