Floyd Bennett, a sweet and mild-mannered coal miner, entered a platonic marriage with his best friend Effie when she needed his help to start her life over somewhere new. For years, Floyd has sworn off love, too heartbroken from a tragic event in his past to let himself fall, but when Oliver comes to town, their friendship rekindles the smoldering embers of Floyd's yearning for closeness.

Oliver Astor, an upper-class, eccentric man with an often-inappropriate sense of humor, has fled his carefully crafted future and emotionally neglectful family to become a miner in a small, unincorporated mining town. Having never truly experienced love or friendship, he is content with spending the rest of his life alone. But soon Oliver meets his mining partner Floyd, who ignites a new longing for love and intimacy.

As their relationship heats, Floyd starts to push Oliver away, their emotional closeness unearthing Floyd's long-buried pain and threatening to obliterate their future together. For their love to last, Oliver must conquer the urge to run from perceived rejection while Floyd learns to open up about everything that was lost to him all those years ago.