David is a young law clerk living in present-day Minneapolis with his pregnant wife, Karen. Karen and David had met through a religious group in college and been together ever since. Karen worked as a receptionist but wanted to be a painter; David had promised her that he would support her so that she could pursue her painting, but lately, he’d been feeling suffocated by that promise. One day, David hears a rustle in the lower part of their apartment. He goes into the night and sees a man escaping, and then a naked woman fleeing after him. The woman left behind a faded pair of jeans, which David doesn’t hand over to the police but keeps to himself. The event rouses an old feeling in David: he’d always wanted to have violent, vicious sex, but Karen’s earnest desire for David’s physical love left him unsatisfied. David started going out in the night. When he saw women walking home alone, he liked following them, slowly, for a block or two. He craved their fear. He put the raped woman’s jeans in Karen’s drawer so that she’d start wearing them; every time she did, he felt more attracted to her. Unfortunately, Karen miscarries four and a half months into her pregnancy. She starts clinging to the jeans, and David’s no longer as attracted to her. David volunteers at a ministry to serve the homeless. One day, a young mother named Tara walked into the ministry, and David was incredibly attracted to her. He found out her address and brought her the baby things that Karen could no longer use. Tara rebuffed David, and he turned violent, grabbing her arms before being kicked out of the facility. Back at home, he left the door unlocked, hoping that someone would sneak in and disturb his peace.