Birthday Girl

As Pike drives into the run-down Meadow Lakes, he realizes that compared with Jordan, Cole has actually led a privileged life. Jordan grew up in a trailer with a father and stepmother who ignored her. Her father Chip’s trailer is ramshackle; her stepbrother, Ryan, and his friends are hanging outside. Ryan and his friends make suggestive remarks about Jordan, which enrage Pike. Inside, Chip is fast asleep in a recliner next to a TV. The bedroom assigned to Jordan is littered with junk, and its wall has a hole. Pike decides that Jordan cannot stay there and walks out, carrying her suitcases. Jordan runs after him, protesting. Pike bangs on his steering wheel in anger and tells Jordan to get into the truck. Staying with her father is not a viable option. It is clear that her father and stepmother don’t want her and that her stepbrother is dangerous. Jordan gets in and asks Pike if he wants pizza for dinner.

Jordan and Pike come to a new agreement about her stay. Apart from doing chores around the house, Jordan insists on paying the grocery and gas bills in exchange for her tenancy. Jordan notes that Pike, unlike Cole, is an easy, neat housemate. He cleans up after himself and does not create messes. As Jordan reflects on life with Pike, he comes into the house. Pike asks Jordan to come with him to the riverbank, which is flooding. Volunteers are needed to line the bank with sandbags, and Cole is unreachable.

At the riverbank, they run into April Lester, a 40-year-old regular at Grounders. Jordan watches April and Pike talk to each other and feels jealous. When Pike sees Jordan watching, he moves away from April. Pike and Jordan head upriver along a mud road and line the shore with sandbags. By the time they get back home, they’re plastered in mud. Jordan is happy because she has spent the day working and laughing with Pike. She and Pike use the hose in the backyard to wash the mud off each other. The intimate activity brings them close, and Jordan touches Pike. Pike tells Jordan that she is only touching him because she is emotionally vulnerable. When Jordan angrily threatens to walk out and look for another man, Pike grabs her, and they begin to have sex.

Pike and Jordan are interrupted by Cole’s voice. Jordan makes sure that she stays out of Cole’s sight. Cole asks Pike where Jordan is, and Pike says that he has no idea. Cole tells Pike that he is sorry for mistreating Jordan, who was there for him when he needed her. Pike asks Cole to come home. Cole does not respond and leaves. Pike tells Jordan that what happened between them cannot happen again.

Pike wakes up, dreaming of Jordan. He tells himself that his actions the night before were a result of being starved for a date. He should find a woman so that he can get Jordan out of his system. When he encounters Jordan in the kitchen, he tells her that she is much younger than him and that he will never take advantage of her again. Jordan says that she wanted to touch him as well. She goes to work, leaving Pike conflicted.

After Pike is done with work, Dutch suggests that they go to a bar. When Pike refuses, Dutch insinuates that Pike is in a hurry to get back to Jordan. Pike does not respond, but he knows that people must be talking about Jordan and him. On their street, Pike spots Jordan talking to Kyle. She tells Pike that Kyle has asked her to babysit his kids. Jordan suggests that she bring the children—seven-year-old Jensen and two-year-old Ava—over to his place so that they can watch them together. Pike and Jordan spend the evening with the children in the pool. Pike is surprised to note how easy child minding seems to him, unlike how it was with Cole. He realizes that he enjoys being with the children because he is not supervising them alone; he has a partner in Jordan.

Jordan tells Pike that ever since news of her breakup with Cole spread, she has been inundated with guys asking her out. She has accepted a tubing date with Carter Hewitt. A jealous Pike tells her that this is a bad idea, and Jordan tells him off for being too “alpha, possessive.” When Jordan goes over to Kyle’s to drop off the kids, Jay McCabe comes around asking for her. Recognizing his name, Pike pushes him out of the house, telling him to keep away from Jordan and Cole. Later that night, Pike dreams that he and Jordan are making love. He pleasures himself, fantasizing about Jordan.

A week later, Jordan and Pike head to Dutch’s house for a party, carrying the taco dip and bacon-wrapped poppers that Jordan has cooked at Pike’s request. Cole was invited as well, but he has been a no-show. Jordan sees that Cole has posted on Instagram that he is going out of town for the day. Though he is no longer her boyfriend, Jordan still feels hurt that Cole did not bother to drop her a personal message. At Dutch’s, Jordan meets Teresa, Dutch’s wife. Teresa fills in Jordan about Pike’s past. Pike was a rulebreaker when he was young but became responsible after Cole was born. Lindsay, Pike’s mother, never let go of her partying ways, so Pike had to be the extra-strict parent to Cole. Teresa calls Pike a good man. Jordan inwardly feels like she should not tempt Pike from his principles.

Jordan leaves the party to go tubing with Carter Hewitt and sees that Pike is jealous. She does not have much fun with the people her age; she feels that they are too cushioned from real life, while she is constantly worrying about paying bills. She calls for Cam to get her and take her back to Pike’s. At the house, Pike and April Lester are playing pool. Consumed by jealousy, Jordan begins to blast music in the kitchen. When Pike and April come in, she is rude to April, prompting her to leave. Jordan goes on to diss April to Pike, calling her someone who breaks up marriages. According to Jordan, Pike can do much better than April. Pike accuses Jordan of ruining his night. Jordan taunts Pike to make love to her since she is the one whom he actually desires. Pike kisses Jordan.

As Pike and Jordan make love, Pike admits that he brought April home as retaliation for Jordan going on a date with Carter. He was never planning on being intimate with April. After an intense sexual encounter with Jordan, Pike reflects that maybe he should not feel so guilty about being with her. Though she is much younger than him, she is an adult. Pike has always liked her, right from the moment he met her in the movie theater. After putting his life on hold for 19 years while raising Cole, Pike now deserves a chance at his own happiness.

Just then, Lindsay drops in. She can see from Pike’s disheveled appearance that he has recently had sex. She taunts him for his conduct and for not keeping tabs on Cole. Cole quit his job three days ago. Pike and Lindsay have a heated argument, with Pike accusing Lindsay of taking half of Cole’s paychecks for herself. Lindsay leaves, and Pike worries about Cole.