The Play (briar U, #3)

The third installment in the Briar U series, the novel follows Hunter Davenport and Demi Davis, two Briar University juniors whose friendship evolves into romance over the course of one eventful academic year.

Hunter Davenport, the newly elected captain of the Briar hockey team, has sworn off sex for the entire season. The previous year, he unknowingly slept with the girlfriend of a Harvard player, and during the conference championship the boyfriend attacked him, breaking his wrist. The injury and the ejection of Briar's team captain cost the team the game. Determined not to let distractions derail him again, Hunter channels his energy into hockey.

Demi Davis is a pre-med junior and Theta Beta Nu sorority member who has been dating Nico Delgado since eighth grade. Her semester begins with Abnormal Psychology, a class she shares with her close friends Pax Ling and TJ Bukowski. Professor Andrews assigns semester-long partner projects: One student plays a psychologist, the other a patient with a psychological disorder. Demi is paired with Hunter. Their first session establishes an easy rapport as Hunter plays a fictional patient named Dick Smith, a married man who describes infidelity and refuses to accept blame. Demi quickly suspects Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

As the semester progresses, their friendship deepens through therapy sessions, study dates, and gym workouts. Demi learns that the women she has seen Hunter with are his three female roommates: Brenna Jensen, Summer Di Laurentis, and Rupi Miller. Hunter shares how his former roommate Fitz dated Summer behind his back, triggering a spiral of reckless behavior that culminated in the broken wrist and the championship loss. Demi confides that she has long suspected Nico cheated during a high school camping trip. During an October trip to Boston, she raises the idea of pursuing a PhD in psychology instead of medical school with her father, Dr. Marcus Davis, a driven neurosurgeon, but his disapproval causes her to drop the subject.

The dynamic shifts when Hunter attends a frat party and spots Nico exiting an upstairs bedroom with a woman, his pants unzipped. He agonizes over whether to tell Demi. On their drive back to campus after separate trips to Boston, he finally tells her what he saw. Demi reacts defensively, insisting Nico would never cheat and accusing Hunter of projecting his own past behavior. When she confronts Nico, he provides a plausible explanation, claiming the girl was a coworker's sister and they had only used an upstairs bathroom.

During a subsequent therapy session, Hunter reveals the truth behind his fictional character: The narcissist he has been portraying is based on his own father. At fourteen, Hunter caught his father with his secretary and told his mother, who already knew and told him to stay quiet, calling him a troublemaker. Hunter draws a direct parallel, noting that the same fear of being dismissed nearly kept him silent about Nico. Demi is shaken and begins to feel guilty for how she reacted.

The truth about Nico emerges in stages. Before Thanksgiving, Demi's friend Corinne admits she slept with Nico once and shows Demi texts in which Nico pressured her to stay silent. At Corinne's housewarming party, Demi borrows Nico's phone and notices it automatically connects to Corinne's Wi-Fi, a network not set up until days after Nico helped Corinne move, proving he continued visiting. Demi confronts Nico, punches him, and flees. That night, he appears outside the Theta house begging her to come back; she throws his belongings out the window and smashes his PlayStation on the sidewalk. Hunter intervenes and carries Demi to his townhouse, where his roommates rally around her.

In the weeks following the breakup, Demi blocks Nico and leans heavily on Hunter's circle. Over Thanksgiving, she half-jokingly texts Hunter asking him to be her rebound; he declines because of his vow but adds, "If I wasn't, I'd be all over you, Demi" (179).

Romantic tension escalates steadily. They share their first kiss in a bathroom after Nico and his friends ambush Hunter outside a teammate's house. A second kiss follows at a Boston nightclub after Hunter, jealous of Demi dancing salsa with his friend Dean Di Laurentis, cuts in. Both times, Hunter stops things from going further, and Demi makes him a counteroffer: When the season ends, she gets to be his first.

At a party, Demi and Brenna engineer a jealousy plot. Hunter's teammate Conor Edwards, aware of the scheme, flirts with and kisses Demi in front of Hunter until Hunter reaches his breaking point, pulls Demi away, and declares he will give her the rebound. They sleep together, breaking his nine-month celibacy vow, and their physical relationship quickly becomes regular.

On New Year's Eve, Hunter reveals why he has avoided pursuing professional hockey: He fears the lifestyle will turn him into a cheater like his father, who once told Hunter they were two of a kind. Demi argues that Hunter is punishing himself for something he has not done. She confides her own parallel fear, that she is sacrificing her ambitions to meet her father's expectations. They recognize the irony: Demi shapes her life to emulate her father, while Hunter shapes his to avoid becoming his.

After a misleading old photo of Hunter kissing another woman sends Demi spiraling, she rushes to his house. Hunter reassures her and tells her he loves her. Demi is not ready to say it back but is deeply moved. She later tells her parents she is dating Hunter and will pursue a doctorate in psychology instead of medical school. Her father disapproves on both fronts, but her mother privately agrees to give Hunter a chance.

The climax arrives on the night of a crucial playoff game. TJ calls Demi and reveals he is on the roof of Bristol House, a four-story dormitory, threatening to jump. He confesses he has been in love with Demi for three years, feels invisible to his family, and is exhausted by his life. Demi races to the building and climbs onto the icy ledge beside him. She tells him honestly that she does not share his feelings but cares about him deeply, and shares a story about a man who survived a similar fall but endured permanent brain damage, sobering TJ with the reality that jumping could leave him far worse off.

Hunter sees a tweeted photo of Demi on the ledge and abandons the game, with his teammates' full support. Dr. Davis, who had arrived at the arena to confront Hunter, drives him to Bristol House instead. Hunter convinces the panicked father to trust Demi rather than storm the building. After an agonizing wait, Demi takes TJ's hand and helps him off the ledge. TJ is taken to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

In the aftermath, Dr. Davis softens toward Hunter and agrees to a future dinner. Hunter returns to the arena in time for the second period, and Briar wins. Demi tells Hunter she loves him. Hunter reveals that Garrett Graham, a former college hockey star and mutual acquaintance, connected him with an agent interested in representing him professionally. The couple begins planning their future, with Demi applying to graduate programs in whatever city Hunter lands in.

The novel closes on a lighthearted note. The hockey team's egg mascot, Pablo Eggscobar, assigned by Coach Jensen as a season-long test of responsibility, is retired when the coach approves the purchase of a real pig. Hunter's former roommate Mike Hollis and current roommate Rupi elope, FaceTiming from Nepal to announce a yearlong trip around the world. Demi and Hunter, curled up on his couch watching a true crime show, are content and in love.