After moving to New York City post-divorce, Scottie Price vowed to prioritize herself and started a new job at Butter Putter. Feeling excluded in a marriage-obsessed office culture, she panicked in a meeting and lied to CEO Ellison that she had a husband. Ellison immediately booked a session with her renowned marriage-counselor husband, Sanders Martin, forcing Scottie to recruit her best friend Mika’s brother, Wilder, to pose as her spouse for the next morning.

Wilder, a laid-back, wealthy retiree who sold his app and now volunteers around the city, agreed and met Scottie to craft a minimal backstory. Their first session with Sanders spun out as Wilder improvised wild details that convinced Sanders there was a spark; before Scottie could object, Wilder accepted a spot for them at an eight-day marriage camp in the Catskills. To protect Scottie’s job, Wilder proposed extending the fake marriage for six months, and Scottie reluctantly agreed with boundaries. At Camp Haven, they turned in their phones, competed in icebreakers, and—while theatrically bickering to sell their cover—won a mini-golf challenge that ended with Scottie getting a black eye. They were placed in a sex-themed cabin due to Wilder’s embellished intake form, endured Sanders and Ellison’s sex-positive program, and began a series of therapy sessions and activities that demanded teamwork and candor.

Their staged conflicts escalated into barbed, absurd arguments until Scottie realized she was channeling real pain from her marriage to Matt. Wilder, alerted by Mika that Scottie was newly divorced, found her crying by the lake, comforted her, and committed to supporting her. As they leaned into camp challenges—obstacle courses, communication drills, bead bracelets, and group games—their fake friction morphed into genuine trust and attraction. After a public confrontation with suspicious coworkers at a s’mores night triggered their first real fight, Sanders “parent-trapped” them with forced teamwork: marooning them on the lake and then leaving them to camp overnight with one sleeping bag. In the woods, they apologized, shared histories about Mika and Wilder’s family trauma, cuddled carefully, and returned to camp reconnected. A sensual chairs exercise brought their attraction into the open, culminating in an intense make-out, and later, after Scottie confided to Denise that she was scared of falling, Wilder confirmed through Mika that Scottie felt the same and initiated private, consensual intimacy that blossomed into a full sexual relationship.

With momentum, they admitted to Sanders that they had slept together and were improving communication, and he assigned them a “fun date” to plan for life after camp. Their tandem-bike picnic date turned into ice cream, family stories, and lakefront intimacy; they then created Scottie’s “Ball and Chain–Free Bucket List” of things Matt denied her and checked off items at camp, including a mixology contest win that granted a private lakeside prize where they skinny-dipped and made love. The next morning, Wilder asked to date after camp, but in therapy Scottie confessed fear that real life would undo them. Overwhelmed, she first told Chad the truth about the ruse—he responded with empathy—then confessed to Sanders and Ellison that Wilder was not her husband. Both she and Wilder admitted real feelings; when Sanders asked Wilder if he would hurt Scottie, Wilder honestly said, “I don’t want to,” which Scottie felt wasn’t enough, so she decided to leave camp to protect herself.

Sanders urged Wilder to resolve what held him back. Realizing his overcommitment to protecting Mika might block a full promise, Wilder spoke with Mika, who affirmed he was stable, seeking a better job, and wanted Wilder to live his life. Wilder returned to New York determined to show Scottie consistency. He surprised her with a low-pressure movie date that checked a bucket-list item and began a deliberate pace of courtship. Over the following weeks, he planned thoughtful dates—a six-week cooking class and a baseball kiss-cam moment—asked reflective questions so he would not repeat Matt’s harms, and kept physical intimacy measured to prove she was his priority. He also learned Sanders had no formal counseling credentials but accepted that the camp’s unconventional methods had helped them.

When they were both ready, Wilder initiated a tender, explicit night at Scottie’s apartment using toys they had been gifted, emphasized cuddling and care afterward—everything Matt had withheld—and confirmed they were a couple. They finished Scottie’s bucket list with a Central Park paddleboat ride, where Wilder confessed he loved her; Scottie, now more confident at work and in herself, said she loved him too. In the epilogue a year later, they returned to Camp Haven engaged after a proposal at Stockings planned with Mika and Denise. Scottie had left Butter Putter to freelance with referrals from Sanders, Chad and Danielle reconciled and were expecting a baby, and Wilder had begun traveling again with healthier boundaries around Mika. Back in their infamous “sex palace” cabin, they celebrated with humor and affection, fully committed beyond the summer that had first brought them together.