Sloane is liberated and excited by the Fifty Shades trilogy, as it normalizes and celebrates sexual fetishization. The books allow Sloane to redefine her and Richard’s sexual practices as that of a dominant/submissive; herself as the submissive who fulfills her own sexual desires by fulfilling Richard’s.

While Sloane is on holiday with some girlfriends, she bumps into a couple she knows. They drink and flirt. Sloane calls Richard and tells him about the encounter, and he encourages her to pursue a sexual encounter with them. She goes to their room the next morning. They order champagne and have sex. Sloane is distressed when the phone dies midway through, as she cannot keep Richard updated and involved. She calls him afterwards from her room, and he is upset.

Back on Rhode Island, Sloane and Richard begin a regular sexual arrangement with Wes, an attractive chef who works at their restaurant. Sometimes all three of them have sex, and sometimes just Sloane and Wes sleep together, keeping Richard involved through messages, calls, or video. Sloane and Richard initially assume that Wes and his partner Jenny have an open relationship, and that Jenny knows about Wes’s arrangement with Sloane and Richard. However, when Sloane suggests to Wes that he should include Jenny in a sexual encounter, his awkward reply implies that Jenny does not know.