Ugly Love (Hoover)/Chapter 17

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🌧️

Colleen Hoover

Ugly Love. Chapter 17

A captain’s celebration and the limits of intimacy

2014

Summary of a Chapter
from the Collection “Ugly Love”

The original takes about 37 minutes to read

Microsummary

Tate celebrated Miles’s promotion and shared a passionate night with him, but his emotional boundaries hurt her. Cap’s account of loving a married woman made her question her hopes for their future.

Chapter Summary

After finishing her hospital shift, Tate joined her brother Corbin and his pilot friends, Ian and Miles, for dinner. She was excited to see Miles, although he initially kept his distance.

Corbin revealed that Miles had become their regional airline’s youngest captain at twenty-four. Miles downplayed the achievement, but his friends praised his dedication and the extra hours he worked.

At the restaurant, Tate quietly congratulated Miles. When Corbin was not watching, Miles kissed her head, complimented her appearance, and flirted with her about her nursing uniform. They kept their attraction hidden from her brother.

Tate learned that Ian had known Miles since fifth grade and that both men had met Corbin in flight school. Asked why he never dated, Miles said relationships were not worth their outcome. Ian redirected the conversation, apparently knowing why the subject troubled him.

Corbin proposed going out to find Miles a woman, unaware of his involvement with Tate. Miles declined and repeatedly mentioned wanting sleep, privately signaling his intentions to her. Corbin also warned Tate against their married acquaintance Dillon and insisted on maintaining high standards for her partners.

Ian paid for dinner and left with Corbin for a bar. Walking toward Tate’s car, Miles compared their nurse-and-pilot pairing to The English Patient. Tate wanted to ask about his scar, childhood, and Rachel, whose connection to his long avoidance of intimacy remained unexplained.

Rain began falling, and Miles kissed Tate in the downpour. Overwhelmed by her feelings, she recognized that previous relationships had never affected her so strongly. They hurried to her car, where their attraction led to sex and a playful competition over who could remain quiet.

Miles won their competition, and they returned to his apartment for another intimate encounter. Tate then dressed to leave before Corbin returned home, hoping to avoid having to explain where she had been.

Before leaving, Tate asked why Miles avoided eye contact during sex. He explained that vulnerability could cause people to confuse their feelings. Although deeply hurt, she denied that it bothered her and said she would get used to it.

Downstairs, Tate sought out Cap. He described loving Wanda, a married woman, for twenty-five years while her husband was regularly away. He warned that hoping love would become something better could leave someone heartbroken. Tate wondered whether she was doing that with Miles, and Cap fell asleep beside her.

Characters

🩺

Tate — narrator, 23-year-old woman and hospital nurse, Corbin’s younger sister and Miles’s secret sexual partner; wears Minnie Mouse scrubs, enjoys playful competition, and conceals her growing need for emotional intimacy.

✈️

Miles — 24-year-old man newly promoted to the youngest captain in his regional airline’s history, Ian’s longtime friend and Tate’s secret sexual partner; has a scar along his jaw, works exceptionally long hours, and combines modesty and private affection with firm emotional boundaries.

🪑

Cap — elderly man who spends evenings in the apartment lobby and previously maintained buildings; Tate’s observant confidant, never married, and spent twenty-five years loving a married woman named Wanda.

🛡️

Corbin — young adult man and airline pilot, Tate’s protective older brother and friend of Miles and Ian; proud of Miles’s promotion but unaware of his involvement with Tate, outspoken about his standards for her partners.

🍻

Ian — young adult man and airline pilot, Miles’s friend since childhood and Corbin’s friend from flight school; cheerful, generous, and supportive, apparently understands Miles’s painful past and tactfully shields him from questions.

Quotes

And equally concerned that I’m getting in over my head, because the more time I spend with him, the more I want to know everything there is to know about him.

I don’t feel like going back to the apartment yet, so after retrieving my bra, I walk to the elevators and make my way down to the lobby to see if Cap is still around.

Love isn’t always pretty, Tate. Sometimes you spend all your time hoping it’ll eventually be something different. Something better.

This summary is based on the UK edition of the novel (London: Simon & Schuster UK, 2014).