Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide include descriptions of personal trauma and emotional abuse.

Evan Zanders and his best friend, Eli Maddison, board the plane for their next hockey road game. Zanders loves being on the road, but Maddison is sorry to leave his family behind, and he already misses his wife, Logan, and his children, Ella and MJ. Zanders and Maddison have known each other for years. They began as rivals when they were growing up in Indiana and later, when they played for different hockey teams in college. Then, in their sophomore years, they both took time off for mental and physical health reasons. They spent the time seeing therapists and became friends. Years later, they both became professional hockey players and joined the Raptors, Chicago’s hockey team. They have been inseparable ever since.

On the plane, the friends settle in for their flight to Denver. Zanders receives texts from women in Denver, who ask to meet up with him. Zanders loves road games because he gets to see new women. He begs Maddison to come out with him when they arrive, but Maddison hasn’t partied since marrying and starting a family.