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Chapters 19-27Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child sexual abuse, mental illness, death by suicide, suicidal ideation and/or self-harm, substance use, physical abuse, sexual content, cursing, and antigay bias.
Chapter 19 Summary
During a late-night hockey practice, Preston Armstrong’s friends, Jude Callahan and Kane Davenport, confront him about a car fire incident from three days prior. Preston gives them an incomplete account, explaining that he accidentally started the fire while drunk and high but falsely claiming that he escaped the car himself. Internally, however, he admits that his rival, Marcus Osborn, saved him by pulling him from the car just before it exploded. He also reflects on his mother’s death anniversary, acknowledging that although he feels she abandoned him while his father stayed, he does not blame her for her suicide. For the first time, he questions why he should continue suffering over her death and considers trying to heal from it.
The conversation shifts when Kane reveals that Marcus texted him that night, alerting him that Preston was on a cliff and in danger. This raises questions about why Marcus was there and how he became involved. Jude and Kane describe Marcus as a patient, calculating, and violent hockey player who holds grudges. This leads Preston to reconsider Marcus’s behavior toward him and wonder whether their recent encounters have been part of a prolonged grudge or game. Jude adds that Marcus’s father, Andrew Osborn, expects Marcus to join the family after graduation and that Marcus’s devotion to his mother, June, is a weakness that could be used against him.
Later, at Jude’s house, Preston takes his insomnia medication and recalls the fear that has accompanied nighttime since childhood, when he would lie awake listening for his bedroom door to open and for someone to enter. He then receives a series of texts from Marcus, who taunts him about their kiss on the cliff and threatens to block him permanently if he doesn’t reply. Preston, who has been deliberately ignoring Marcus’s messages, finally responds, and their exchange becomes increasingly flirtatious and sexual.
The next day, Preston travels to Stantonville after Marcus returns the motorcycle to the Armstrong mansion. He watches Marcus working at a mechanic shop and finds himself strongly attracted to him. When a woman begins flirting with Marcus, Preston becomes jealous despite repeatedly denying the feeling. He eventually crosses the street toward them, insisting to himself that he is only there to punish Marcus and remove an obstacle from his way.
Chapter 20 Summary
At the mechanic shop in Stantonville, Preston interrupts Marcus’s conversation with a customer, Jenna, and initially introduces himself as another customer before claiming that he is Marcus’s “owner.” He grabs Marcus by the nape, declares that Marcus is his, and warns Jenna against flirting with him again. Frightened by Preston’s threatening manner, Jenna leaves. Preston then confronts Marcus about returning the motorcycle and accuses him of flirting with Jenna. Their argument turns to the undefined nature of their relationship. Marcus says that they are not exclusive and objects to Preston ignoring and ghosting him. Preston grabs Marcus by the throat and shoves him against the wall, while Marcus confronts Preston about showing up at his workplace, acting territorial, calling him his, and then pretending none of it happened.
Marcus moves Preston into the shop’s storage room, where the confrontation develops into a sexual encounter. Marcus follows through on his earlier threat to deny Preston orgasm as punishment for ignoring him. Marcus begins to penetrate Preston but refuses to proceed further, explaining that he does not want their first time having sex to occur in the mechanic shop. When he asks Preston whether he wants him to continue or withdraw, Preston says he does not care, so Marcus withdraws.
As the encounter continues, Marcus says that he wants them to be exclusive, but Preston must stop ignoring and ghosting him, communicate properly, meet with him regularly, and stop having sex with him and then disappearing. Preston agrees. Marcus tells Preston that he does not want to see other women pursuing him; Preston responds that he should be making the same demand of Marcus, who assures him it will not happen again. Marcus still refuses to let Preston climax, explaining that the punishment and their agreement to exclusivity are separate matters. He then tells Preston to get dressed so they can celebrate and ends the chapter by declaring that Preston is now his “prince.”
Chapter 21 Summary
Marcus takes Preston to his home in Stantonville to celebrate their agreement to be exclusive. Preston enjoys the motorcycle ride and privately acknowledges his disappointment that Marcus stopped their earlier sexual encounter. At the house, Preston becomes territorial over another motorcycle until Marcus reveals that it came from his father, Andrew. When Marcus puts his arm around Preston outside the house, Preston pulls away and insists that their relationship remain private and purely sexual, warning Marcus that he will end it if Marcus develops feelings for him.
While Marcus prepares food, Preston explores the house. A childhood photograph of Marcus with June and Andrew gives Preston an unexplained sense of familiarity. The warmth of Marcus’s home prompts him to compare their childhoods and recognize that Marcus had something he lacked: a parent who protected him when he needed protection.
Preston unexpectedly falls asleep in Marcus’s room and has a disturbing nightmare in which he struggles to move and breathe and sees a younger version of himself threatened by a dark figure. The nightmare also reveals Preston’s self-blame over his mother’s death by suicide. When Marcus tries to wake him, Preston attacks and chokes him before becoming fully aware of his surroundings. Marcus explains that he chose not to respond with violence after noticing that attempts to restrain Preston made him more violent. Preston is unsettled that Marcus remains with him after witnessing him in such a vulnerable state and privately acknowledges that he could become accustomed to Marcus responding to him this way.
Chapter 22 Summary
After Preston’s nightmare, Marcus finds him unresponsive in the bathroom, staring blankly into the mirror. Seeing Preston in this state prompts Marcus to abandon his original plan to use him to gain access to the four founding families. Instead, Marcus decides that he wants to protect him. Marcus attempts to draw a response from Preston and kisses him, after which Preston gradually becomes responsive.
Preston admits that his attraction to Marcus conflicts with how he sees himself and insists that he does not want to be attracted to a man. Marcus identifies Preston’s response as internalized homophobia and tells him that, although he has agreed to keep their relationship private, he will not accept Preston’s continued denial when they are alone. Preston explains that secrecy is necessary because Vencor punishes gay members with death, potentially placing both of them in danger.
Later, Marcus prepares dinner for Preston, and their conversation turns to their different upbringings and families. Preston reveals that if Vencor voted for his death, what frightens him most is the possibility that his father might personally kill him. He says he would rather die by suicide than witness his father do so because he believes he has already disappointed him, but refuses to explain further. As they finish eating, Marcus recognizes the extent of his growing attachment to Preston and privately acknowledges that he may never get enough of him.
Chapter 23 Summary
A week and a half later, Preston is under house arrest, monitored by a family enforcer named Lenin after he skips his medication and later becomes excessively violent during a Vencor mission, creating problems that Vencor has to cover up. Preston also reflects on a recent encounter with Marcus, whom he pushed away when Marcus tried to lift his shirt, partly because Marcus touched his bruised hip and because Preston feared he would see the bruises left by Lenin’s beating. Marcus has since kept his distance, leaving Preston worried that he may stop caring or find someone else. He takes his younger sister, Miley Armstrong, to a public ice-skating rink. Marcus unexpectedly appears and befriends Miley and skates with her, making Preston jealous of the attention Marcus gives her. Marcus later becomes possessive when he notices Preston’s exposed collarbone, but Preston pushes him away and reminds him that they must act like strangers in public.
When Preston briefly loses sight of Miley, he panics that she may have been taken or hurt and connects the possibility to something from his own past. Miley quickly reappears with Marcus. The situation escalates when Kane’s girlfriend, Dahlia, arrives. Marcus refers to his brief past relationship with Dahlia, provoking Preston, who becomes enraged and threatens him. Marcus then leaves without looking back. Preston continues watching him, hoping that he will look back and wondering what he has said wrong. As Marcus disappears, Miley asks Preston if she can marry him.
Chapter 24 Summary
Marcus, after light evening training with his team ahead of an important game, reflects on how differently he treats Preston from everyone else and recognizes that he allows Preston to test his limits. Although Marcus has been deliberately ignoring Preston since their encounter at the rink as punishment, he admits that staying away from him is becoming difficult. He also reveals that he followed Preston the previous day despite refusing to respond to his messages. Later that night, Marcus returns home in the rain to find Preston waiting for him, soaked and shivering.
Preston explains that he first went to the hockey arena but, after finding Marcus’s team there, came to his house, where Marcus realizes Preston has been waiting in the rain for hours. Preston blames Marcus for ignoring his messages and tells him to make it up to him. Preston then initiates an intense kiss and later admits he lied about not enjoying kissing Marcus. As they continue kissing, Marcus acknowledges that he would give Preston whatever he wants and questions whether he is the complicated one in their relationship. The chapter ends with Marcus concluding that, after that night, Preston will be entirely his.
Chapter 25 Summary
In Marcus’s bedroom, Preston sees Marcus fully naked for the first time and is strongly attracted to him despite his continuing discomfort with being attracted to a man. When Preston objects to having sex in a bed he believes Marcus has shared with others, Marcus reassures him that he has never had sex with anyone in his mother’s house. Before they have sex, Preston becomes frightened and admits he has never had penetrative sex with a man. Marcus stops and asks Preston whether he wants him to stop, reminding him that he can use his safe word. Preston indicates that he wants to continue, and they have penetrative sex for the first time. Afterward, Preston realizes that the encounter was not merely sex to him and becomes frightened by how much it meant. He fears that Marcus will eventually see the parts of himself he keeps hidden and no longer want him.
Chapter 26 Summary
After sex, Marcus and Preston lie together. Preston, embarrassed by how tightly he held Marcus, tries to pull away, but Marcus reassures him that holding on is how he shows affection. When Marcus later questions Preston about his hypersexuality, Preston refuses to answer and grows cold and withdrawn. Later, Marcus challenges Preston’s insistence that having sex with him means nothing and describes his response as internalized homophobia. Preston becomes distressed and aggressive, and Marcus goes to the bathroom to calm himself rather than push Preston further or lash out at him. While Marcus showers, Preston leaves. Marcus returns to find him gone and discovers a string of Preston’s earlier texts, ending with: “It’s better if we’re nothing, Marcus. Believe me, you don’t ever want to be something with someone like me” (382).
Chapter 27 Summary
About a week after Preston ran away from his house, Marcus receives a call from his sister, Serena Osborn, who threatens Marcus’s mother, June, as leverage to pressure him into accepting family shares so she can maintain her position during an upcoming board meeting. Serena also warns Marcus that three potential Osborn heirs have already disappeared and that he could share their fate. Afterward, Marcus goes to the Vipers’ post-game club to confront Preston, who had threatened to sleep with someone else. He finds Preston talking closely with Violet, whom he initially mistakes for a potential replacement before realizing she is involved with Jude.
Jealous, Marcus interrupts them and threatens Violet. The confrontation becomes physical as Preston attacks Marcus. Jude arrives shortly after and leaves with Violet, warning Preston not to kill Marcus. Once they are alone, Marcus confronts Preston for trying to replace him and for running away. Marcus tells Preston that Preston’s habit of running away makes him feel used, but Preston insists that he is not using him. Marcus tells Preston to prove it by leaving with him immediately. Although his teammates are waiting for him, Preston agrees and leaves on the back of Marcus’s motorcycle, holding on tightly.
Chapters 19-27 Analysis
Preston’s nightmare in Marcus’s bed develops the novel’s depiction of how his childhood trauma continues to shape his responses to vulnerability and intimacy. His violent reaction when Marcus attempts to wake him and his subsequent dissociative state demonstrate the continuing effects of his childhood trauma on his present experiences. In the bathroom, Preston stands “unfocused and vacant” (316), confronted by the “phantom he sees in the mirror” (316), language that emphasizes his difficulty remaining connected to his surroundings and sense of self. His discomfort with Marcus witnessing this episode also develops his fear of exposing aspects of himself he usually conceals. After their first sexual encounter, the image of his “fractured image bleeding through the cracks” (370) expresses this fear of exposure, as Preston worries that greater intimacy will allow Marcus to see what he keeps hidden and eventually reject him. His repeated withdrawal after moments of intimacy therefore reflects the shame and anticipated rejection that accompany increasing emotional vulnerability.
The volatile sexual encounters between Preston and Marcus increasingly create opportunities for emotional honesty. In the storage room, the BDSM dynamics of spanking and edging occur alongside a direct negotiation about exclusivity and communication, making the boundaries of their relationship increasingly explicit. This dynamic establishes a pattern in which discussions of physical boundaries increasingly accompany conversations about emotional needs they struggle to communicate directly. Their first penetrative sex scene further develops this idea, becoming a key moment that exemplifies the theme of Intimacy and Sex as a Space for Exploration and Healing. Preston’s admission that he has never been with a man before is a rare confession of vulnerability, demonstrating his increasing willingness to communicate uncertainty and establish limits during intimacy. Marcus’s attention to Preston’s consent and reassurance during the encounter allows Preston to continue exploring an aspect of his sexuality that still causes him considerable discomfort. The emotional significance Preston subsequently attaches to the encounter further demonstrates how sexual intimacy is becoming intertwined with trust, vulnerability, and feelings he remains reluctant to acknowledge openly.
The characters’ public interactions increasingly reveal how the competitive aggression associated with their hockey rivalry extends into their developing relationship. Marcus’s deliberate attempts to provoke Preston’s jealousy and his possessive response to Preston’s interaction with Violet turn emotional attachment into another contest for control. These confrontations develop the theme of Sports as a Performance of Masculinity by showing how habits of provocation, aggression, and dominance established through their rivalry continue to shape the ways they express jealousy and attachment beyond the rink. Preston’s decision to wait for hours in the rain for Marcus further demonstrates how increasingly difficult it has become for him to maintain emotional distance. Their growing attachment consequently remains expressed through possessiveness, intimidation, and aggression, behaviors that reinforce the ethically troubling dimensions of both characters throughout the development of their relationship.
The physical settings of Stantonville and Graystone Ridge develop the theme of Class Disparities and the Power of Wealth by exposing the limits of material privilege in providing security and care. When Preston visits Marcus’s home, he is struck by its warmth and the evidence of parental affection and protection that he recognizes as absent from his own upbringing. He notes the “affection and warmth I’ve never experienced” (308) and recognizes that Marcus received forms of emotional security that the Armstrong family’s wealth did not provide him. This realization complicates Preston’s understanding of privilege by drawing attention to forms of security that cannot be guaranteed through material resources or social status. Marcus’s home consequently becomes significant to Preston’s developing awareness of the role that family power and protection have played differently in their respective upbringings.
Marcus’s perception of Preston is shaped by the recurring fairy prince motif, which develops Marcus’s fascination with and increasing attachment to him. After their agreement to an exclusive relationship, Marcus whispers, “you’re now mine, my prince” (299), giving the motif an increasingly possessive significance. This meaning develops throughout the section, as Marcus consistently sees Preston as “ethereal,” beautiful, and “wrongly fragile” (351), language that increasingly associates the fairy prince with Marcus’s protective impulses. The fairy prince motif consequently develops from Marcus’s earlier fascination with Preston into a language of attachment, protectiveness, and possession. Marcus’s repeated possessive language also complicates the protective impulse he increasingly feels toward Preston, preserving the controlling tendencies that characterize their relationship.
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