Pucking Wild

Ilmari picks up Tess to meet with the three other members of the non-profit, and she tries hard not to start crying in front of him as Troy continues to call her. Tess ultimately admits to Ilmari that Shelby looks very much like Troy’s secretary, with whom she caught him cheating, so she was thrown by Shelby’s appearance moments before. 

Rachel told Ilmari that Tess might be having a hard day because the divorce papers were finally delivered to Troy, so he has promised to bring her right to Rachel when they are done with the meeting. The next time Troy calls, Tess asks Ilmari to answer, but Ilmari suggests that she simply ignore it. Tess flings her phone out of the window of the moving car and into the ocean, finally feeling some relief.

Ryan gets a call from his sister, Cassie, who is calling to ask for money. Though she does this routinely, Ryan always begrudgingly grants her requests.

Tess and Ilmari pull up to the beach, where they meet the other members of the Northshore Turtle Crew, Joey Ford and Cheryl and Nancy Lemming. Joey, Cheryl, and Nancy give Tess all of the information they know about turtles, yet she is still unclear about what they want out of the non-profit. At Tess’s suggestion, they narrow down their focus to saving the local dunes that protect the sea turtles, calling their organization Out of the Net.

The new members of Out of the Net figure out what their duties will be over lunch. Afterward, Tess buys a temporary phone and makes Ilmari her first call. When she gets home, she gets in the shower and begins to masturbate. She continues outside of the shower, using one of her vibrators; she is too distracted to hear Ryan’s knock at the door.

Ryan enters to find Tess naked once again. She berates him for barging in, but he explains that he was worried about her because she wasn’t answering her phone and because he saw a strange car (her rental) in the driveway. Ryan asks why she didn’t say she was home, and Tess feels bad about her earlier behavior around Shelby, eventually admitting to Ryan that she was spooked because Shelby looks like Troy’s mistress. She also tells him about serving Troy the divorce papers and throwing her phone into the ocean. 

Ryan worries that Troy knows she is in Jacksonville, as he will surely guess that she is staying with the Prices. Ryan offers her the keys to his place, but Tess admits that she wants to stay here with him, leading Ryan to kiss her. As they kiss, Tess asks Ryan to finish what she started in the shower, and he tells her to get on the bed.

Ryan approaches Tess on the bed but feels pain as he steps on his bad knee, and Tess asks him to stop. Tess apologizes to Ryan for pushing him to do anything with her, surprising Ryan, who has always wanted her. She tells him about how lonely she’s felt, and Ryan comforts Tess as she begins to cry. Ryan says that they should hold off on the obvious attraction between them, and they fall asleep together watching TV in Ryan’s bed. When Ryan wakes up the next morning, Tess is gone.

Tess shows Ilmari and Caleb an office space that she wants to use for Out of the Net, but this upsets Ilmari, who feels he has already given the non-profit the only thing he can give (his money). He doesn’t want to make any of the decisions for the non-profit, believing he is not qualified to do anything other than play hockey. When Ilmari storms out, Caleb apologizes to Tess for him, asking her not to abandon him because Ilmari really needs a friend right now.

A few hours later, Tess gets a call from her lawyer, Charlie Putnam, who says Troy hasn’t yet given his response to the official divorce papers but has been harassing Charlie and threatening to report Tess missing. Troy has been desperate to get Tess in touch with his mother, Bea, who he believes can be a mediator in the relationship. Not wanting to get Troy involved any further, Tess asks Charlie to connect her with Bea right away.

Ryan watches as his team gets on the plane for another game without him. On the way out, Jake tells Ryan to keep an eye on Tess, as he knows they can trust him not to take advantage of her. 

Someone tells Ryan that Mark Talbot, the team’s general manager, wants to see him. Ryan is nervous to meet Mark, but the manager immediately offers him a contract extension; he is especially impressed with Ryan’s Nike deal. Ryan is a little anxious, as he has never negotiated a contract without his agent present, but Mark has already sent his agent all of the paperwork and tells Ryan to let him know if the pay he has proposed doesn’t work for him, saying that he should fight for what he is worth.

Tess is connected to her mother-in-law’s phone, and Bea immediately offers to bring her “home.” Bea tells Tess that she is enraged about what happened at the HR meeting (thus unknowingly revealing that Troy lied about her involvement in putting Tess on leave). However, Tess is surprised when Bea blames Dale, the head of HR, for forcing Tess to take administrative leave. Tess clarifies that it is not Dale’s fault but Troy’s and that he is lying even to his own mother. However, Bea refuses to believe Tess, insisting that she is the one who is being cruel. Tess tells Bea everything that Troy has done to her and says that she will never see him again. Tess also refuses to tell her where she is because she can’t trust her not to tell Troy. Nevertheless, when Tess asks Bea to set aside her loyalty to Troy, Bea agrees to help Tess get Troy to sign the divorce papers.

After fighting with Ilmari and Bea, Tess is happy to see Ryan. She comes home to see him playing video games with some of the team rookies who didn’t get to go to the game. Ryan tells Tess about his contract extension, and Tess offers to take him out to celebrate. They tease one another about whether this will be a date, and Tess says it can be for tonight.

As they are about to go out for their date, Tess spots the contract that Ryan was given and suggests that he read it alongside his agent. They have dinner and walk on the beach together as Ryan wonders where their relationship is going. As they stroll, Ryan asks Tess when she knew her marriage was over.

Tess is somewhat surprised by how deep Ryan’s question is, but she tells him about a time five years earlier when Troy made her feel completely invisible. Ryan correctly assumes that Tess has felt invisible all her life, and Tess tells him more about her difficult childhood. Ryan tells Tess that since they met, she has been the only thing he has seen. Tess hesitates, and Ryan begs her to stop closing herself off. In response, Tess admits that she is only in Jacksonville because of him.

Tess clarifies that she is in Jacksonville because of what happened with the pictures that were taken of them at Rachel’s wedding. She tells Ryan that Troy’s ultimatum has forced her to choose her career or her happiness. Ryan knows that Troy must have done something after the HR meeting to scare her away to Jacksonville, and he feels gutted when he learns that Troy choked her. Ryan tries to get Tess to report Troy to the police and get a restraining order, feeling like his involvement makes this his problem, too. However, Tess asks him to let her do things her own way. Tess continues to pull away, admitting that she was partially using Ryan to make Troy go through with the divorce and to force herself to start her life over, but says she cannot continue to use Ryan now that they are friends.

Tess feels terrible after admitting the truth, though she knows she had to tell Ryan everything. When they are back at the house, Ryan tells Tess to use him—not to hurt Troy but to make herself feel good. They agree to become friends with benefits, as Ryan knows she can’t offer more. Tess agrees, and they begin to have sex.

As they have sex, Ryan promises that he will never hurt Tess, which she says she knows is true. Once they are finished, Tess gets a surprisingly late phone call from Rachel and panics seconds after she answers.

Rachel tells Tess that the paparazzi got hold of pictures of Tess with Jake when she first arrived in Jacksonville and that now they are speculating that Jake is cheating. Tess visits the following morning and is indignant, but Rachel is much calmer, knowing that there is no truth to the rumors. Rachel only worries about what this will do to Tess, thinking that these pictures will lead Troy to find her in Jacksonville. 

As Rachel and Tess walk on the beach, Ilmari approaches and confronts Tess about an invitation he received to a black-tie gala he is hosting for Out of the Net. Ilmari tries to argue; he wants donations from people concerned about the environment, not wealthy elites, and he doesn’t like being the center of attention, as advertised in the invitation. However, Tess reminds him that he told her to make all the decisions. Ilmari’s insecurity begins to show, but Rachel and Tess reassure him that everything will go well.

Tess returns home and finds the house full of smoke and Ryan in the kitchen attempting to make a dish she has been teasing him about trying. Ryan feels dejected that he couldn’t get the meal right, especially as it was meant as an apology for trying to tell her what course to take when she told him about Troy’s behavior. Tess doesn’t need Ryan to apologize but appreciates the gesture regardless, and they agree that their baggage shouldn’t get in the way of their friendship.

Tess takes Ryan into the sauna to relax, but he only feels hot and irritated. To make him feel better, Tess pulls out a few sex toys she brought with her for them to use on one another. Ryan knows that he would gladly give their relationship a real chance if Tess would let him.