Flock

Cecelia and Sean keep in touch via text throughout the days following their waterfall hike. Cecelia hopes more will happen with him soon.

Over dinner with Roman one night, Cecelia asks about his life. Cecelia’s mom got pregnant with her when she was 20 and she’s never known much about Roman. Roman skirts her questions.

Afterward, Cecelia joins Sean at the garage. While Sean talks to his friends, Cecelia notices Dominic watching her. She feels excited looking at him but still doesn’t like his personality. Later, she asks Sean why Dominic dislikes her. Sean insists she should ignore him.

The friends play pool for some time before Cecelia asks Sean to teach her to drive his car. In the Nova, they wind through the mountain roads. Sean touches her while she drives. Finally, they pull over, kiss, and have sex.

Cecelia helps Sean do his and his friends’ laundry at the laundromat. Cecelia is content just being with him and moved that he’s helping his friends. Then they sit in the car and kiss outside the laundromat while waiting for the load to finish. 

When Sean goes back inside, Cecelia watches a woman named Selma making tortillas at the neighboring Mexican restaurant. She’s moved by how happy Selma looks. Then she sees Selma stealing from the cash register. Initially upset, Cecelia soon realizes Selma is stealing for her family. Sean rejoins her and explains that Selma’s grandson has a disability; she has been supporting him and her son-in-law ever since her daughter left them. Sean’s empathy makes Cecelia even more drawn to him.

Cecelia and Sean go out for drinks. At the bar, they talk about their lives. Cecelia opens up about her childhood and parents. Sean tells Cecelia about his parents, whose relationship he idolizes. When Cecelia looks at her phone, Sean demands that she not use her phone when she’s with him. She thinks he’s being controlling, but he insists he’s jealous of her attention and wants them to live in the present when they’re together. Cecelia gives in. They put some songs on the jukebox and dance. In the car afterward, they have sex.

Cecelia wakes up in Sean’s bed and reflects on how their relationship has evolved in the past weeks. She feels freer and more energetic being with him. Then she gets up to use the bathroom and is shocked to see Dominic sleeping naked with his door open. She stands in the hall studying him until he wakes up, notices her, and returns her gaze. She races back to Sean’s room, confused by her attraction to Dominic.

Cecelia calls Christy to ask if she should tell Sean that she saw Dominic naked. Christy, who has more relationship experience, encourages Cecelia to follow her heart if she likes Sean and not to let her past relationships ruin this new experience.

Cecelia decides to cook Sean a meal to make up for looking at Dominic naked. While she is cooking in Sean’s kitchen, Dominic enters and starts teasing her about her relationship with Sean. Cecelia tries standing up for herself but gets flustered when Dominic thrusts himself against her. She can’t help touching his penis. Then Sean appears; Dominic tells him that Cecelia touched him and saw him naked. Sean takes Dominic into the other room to talk.

Cecelia races out of the house. Sean catches up to her, demanding that she stop letting Dominic bother her. However, when she returns, Dominic continues to be rude and Sean doesn’t defend Cecelia, so she races out of the house again. Sean follows, insisting that he can’t do anything about Dominic—Cecelia needs to choose to be with Sean despite his friend’s behavior. Then he lifts her over his shoulder and brings her into his room so they can have sex while she’s mad.

Cecelia doesn’t contact or return Sean’s texts for the next two days. Her ex-boyfriends hurt her, and she doesn’t want to let Sean do the same. She’s also tired of letting Dominic belittle her. She thinks about her mom’s many failed relationships with bad men, not wanting to repeat the pattern. 

Over dinner, Roman notices that Cecelia is upset. She changes the topic back to Roman’s family, eager for more information. She asks if he loved her mom. He admits that he tried to love her and Cecelia but couldn’t.

Cecelia tries to ignore her confusion over Sean and focus on work. One day, after her shift, she sits by the pool and reads but can’t stop thinking about Sean and Dominic. Then Dominic, Sean, and Tyler appear unannounced. While Sean’s friends go inside, Sean confronts Cecelia about their fight. Then they have sex. Cecelia realizes she “can’t deny him” and decides it’s worth it to take “a chance on him” (163). However, she tells Sean they need to work on their communication.

At work, Melinda notices that Cecelia is glowing and asks about her relationship with Sean. Throughout her shift, Cecelia gets lost in thought thinking about her recent experiences. She’s loved the summer in Triple Falls thus far.

That night, Sean takes Cecelia on a midnight picnic on his friend’s wooded property. Cecelia asks Sean about his other relationships, and he admits he’s done many of the same things with other women that he’s doing with her. However, he insists that Cecelia is special. They kiss. Cecelia notices Sean looks momentarily afraid, but this disappears when they have sex.

At work, the plant is over 100 degrees and tensions are high. A scuffle breaks out when an employee named Vivica starts yelling about her shorted paychecks. She accuses Cecelia of being in on Roman’s scheme to rob his employees. Cecelia knows nothing about it but promises to ask Roman. Sean intervenes and takes Vivica into his office. Cecelia asks Melinda about the issue; Melinda reveals that most of their checks are short each week. 

After work, Cecelia gets upset when Sean reveals he fired Vivica. He insists he had to do it and promises to protect Cecelia from the other workers. At home afterward, Cecelia emails Roman to set up a meeting about work the next morning.