The Happy Ever After Playlist

Sloan and Jason are making out in his truck when someone bangs on their window, saying, “Get a room!” (98). Sloan breaks free and asks Jason to take her home. She asks him not to come into her house because she knows she can’t resist him. She retrieves Tucker from inside, and Jason puts him in the truck. Jason asks if he can kiss her goodnight, and she jumps on him again. They kiss passionately, but Sloan pulls away again and runs inside, leaving Jason feeling like he’d been caught in a whirlwind. Later at home, he texts her and apologizes for kissing her since it’s against her first date rules. Sloan responds that she’s abandoning her rules with him.

Jason is restless the next day as Sloan barely returns his texts, and he gets her voicemail when he calls. He can tell Tucker is missing her, too. He spends the day sitting by the pool with Ernie. Jason asks if he can take Sloan on tour with them, and Ernie encourages him to avoid getting involved with anyone right now as his career is taking off, and a girlfriend would only distract him. Ernie’s had a string of failed marriages and knows firsthand how the music industry ruins relationships. He reminds Jason of his entanglement with another artist, Lola, who wrote a song about their one night together and constantly harassed Jason despite them no longer being together. Jason insists that Sloan is different. Ernie reveals that the label is sending Jason on a 14-month tour in the United Kingdom. Jason has wanted fame all his life, but now he wonders if his career will get between him and what he found in Sloan.

Later, Sloan calls, but she is crying. She tells Jason he doesn’t want her because she is a mess and asks if he will come over. He races to her house with Tucker and finds a mess inside. Brandon’s clothes are strewn everywhere, and Sloan has been drinking. She’s passed out in the bathroom after being sick, and she has a cotton ball staunching blood inside her elbow. Jason tenderly cleans her up and puts her to bed. He notices a large photo of Sloan over the bed. She’s posed artfully nude, and he can’t believe her beauty. He repairs her sink while she sleeps and stays all night on the couch.

Sloan wakes up with a wretched hangover and is embarrassed to discover Jason spent the night and cared for her while she was sick. She recalls the events of the previous day. It was the second anniversary of Brandon’s death, and she decided it was time to clean out his belongings. She visited his grave, donated blood in his memory, and came home to begin the cleanout. However, going through his clothes triggered her grief, and she started drinking tequila. Things spiraled, and she ended up calling Jason. Sloan bathes, and Jason brings her coffee, kisses her, and makes breakfast. She thanks him for staying with her all night and says they can’t go on their date because she’s so hungover. Jason says they’re having their date now, and they spend the morning watching television and talking. Jason’s tenderness and understanding make Sloan even more attracted to him even though he only holds her hand. He mentions the photo, and Sloan loves that he loves it, but she knows he doesn’t fully understand its meaning. Sloan discovers that Jason fixed the kitchen sink and offers to make him dinner the next day. Sloan tells Jason what happened the previous day, and he listens empathetically.

Jason can’t wait for dinner and calls Sloan while waiting for an appointment. He leaves for his Minnesota trip soon and can’t bear the thought of them being apart. Sloan is at the mall because Tucker ate several pairs of her underwear. Jason flirtatiously suggests that he approve of any new lingerie purchases. A group of naval officers flirt with Sloan while she’s on the phone and threaten to reenact the scene from Top Gun and sing to her. Jason is jealous that she’s getting so much attention from other men, but Sloan seems oblivious to why men are drawn to her. Plus, she tells him they’re not her type because she’s into someone else right now, someone who she says “doesn’t scare easily, something I need in a man” (130). Jason hears the officers begin singing.

Before dinner, Sloan finishes cleaning the house of Brandon’s things. It feels good to finally be moving on as she realizes she had made the house a memorial to him after his death. Keeping all his stuff was weighing her down, just like her grief. Jason arrives and brings her favorite coffee order. After dinner, they watch Top Gun since Sloan has never seen it. Jason says he wants them to be exclusively dating if she’s comfortable. Sloan agrees, and Jason is proud to call himself her boyfriend. Kristen invites them for dinner the next day for her birthday, but Sloan worries Kristen and Josh will be too overbearing to Jason. Jason insists they go because he, as her boyfriend, should know her best friend.

Jason doesn’t want to leave Sloan’s house, and his trailer feels lonely and empty. Someone knocks on the door, and it’s Sloan. She says she’s lonely and asks to stay over. Jason promises to respect her boundaries. She notices his tour schedule, and he tells her he will be gone for over a year. They climb into bed together and hold each other until they fall asleep.

Sloan is nervous as she and Jason arrive at Kristen and Josh’s house, sure that Kristen will give Jason the third degree. However, the night goes smoothly, and Kristen and Josh approve of Jason. Jason helps Josh with the grill, giving Sloan and Kristen time alone. Sloan tells Kristen that they are a couple now but haven’t had sex. Kristen insists Sloan make a move, claiming it can be her birthday gift. When Sloan and Jason are alone in the kitchen, they can hardly keep their hands off each other. He asks her to go to Minnesota with him over the weekend to meet his parents. He also asks her to cook with his mom.

Kristen and Josh want to sing karaoke after dinner, and Sloan is embarrassed to know they did it on purpose. When it’s Jason’s turn, Kristen requests he sing one of his songs, Sloan’s favorite. Sloan is mortified, yet when he begins to sing and play the guitar, his talent captivates her, and her entire body is on fire with passion. Later, as they’re making out on her porch, Sloan invites Jason inside, and they fall onto the couch and quickly begin undressing. Just as she is removing his pants, Sloan thinks of Brandon and the last time they were intimate. She realizes she’s not ready to have sex with Jason yet. He is empathetic and understanding, telling her that she’s “worth the wait” (157). They are set to leave for Minnesota the following morning.

When Jason returns from Sloan’s house, Lola is waiting for him. He tells her to leave immediately, though she’s intent on seducing him. She throws her stilettos at him when he closes the trailer door, leaving her outside. Jason calls Ernie to tell him Lola is trespassing, but she and her driver are gone when he arrives. Despite never telling her where he lives, Lola finds Jason and knows the code for the security gate. Ernie explains that the record label isn’t confident Jason can carry the tour as a solo act and wants to bring Lola along. Jason refuses, but Ernie says if he doesn’t comply, the record label will sue him for millions for breaking his contract. Jason realizes Sloan can’t come on tour with them because Lola is toxic and potentially dangerous. He tells Ernie he’s getting a restraining order against Lola, forcing the label to change their mind.