Dean (Face-Off Series Book 6)

by Jillian Quinn

  DEAN

  A Face-Off Novel

  Jillian Quinn

  Contents

  Also by Jillian Quinn

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  Prince Pucking Charming

  Are you on the team?

  Dear Reader

  Also by Jillian Quinn

  About the Author

  Also by Jillian Quinn

  FACE-OFF LEGACY SERIES

  Pucking Parker

  Keeping Kane

  Teaching Tucker

  Jocking Jameson

  Kissing Killian

  Defending Donovan

  FACE-OFF SERIES

  Parker

  Kane

  Donovan

  Jameson

  Ethan

  Dean

  For a complete list of books, visit JillianQuinnBooks.com

  Copyright © 2019 by Jillian Quinn

  All rights reserved.

  Visit my website at JillianQuinnBooks.com

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Dean

  The first time I met Kat Baldwin, I sat in a cold rink, palms sweaty and afraid to speak to her. I’d never been intimidated by a girl before I met her. But Kat isn’t an ordinary girl. She’s the daughter of Nick Baldwin, the professional hockey player I have idolized for most of my life.

  Kat skates down the ice, with a few girls in tow, switching the puck to her right as the winger comes up on her left side. They collide against the boards, and Kat scrambles to maintain possession of the puck. She elbows the girl in her jaw to create some distance between them. Luckily for Kat, the linesman doesn’t catch the hit.

  While Kat has her father’s skating and puck-handling abilities, she also has her older brothers’ scrappiness. Duke and Austin Baldwin are two of the best defensive players in the NHL. I see a lot of them in Kat. No matter how many games of hers I watch, I’m still in awe of her, smiling from the stands like an idiot that she’s my best friend… and the one girl I can never have.

  Over three years ago, my teammates laughed and told me I was crazy for seeking out Kat. When I’d heard that Nick’s daughter made the women’s ice hockey team at Strickland University, I had to see for myself if she lived up to the Baldwin name. She didn’t disappoint, not even a little bit. The next year, her younger brothers joined my team and then moved into the house I share with my teammates, which complicated my plans for Kat.

  Theo stands up, shoves two fingers in his mouth, and whistles. “C’mon, Kit-Kat.”

  Travis, his identical twin, shoots up from his chair and starts clapping for his sister, yelling shit about crushing the competition. Not like Kat can hear them from the ice. She’s in the zone, her eyes on the puck and headed toward the net.

  I laugh at these idiots. Much like her two older brothers, Kat’s younger brothers love her fiercely. They’re so overprotective that I never stood a chance with Kat. All of them made it abundantly clear that I’m not allowed to touch Kat. Not allowed to kiss Kat. Or think about her in appropriate ways. At first, I wanted just friendship from Kat. But as the years pass, I find myself wanting her more each day.

  “Oooh,” Travis says, nudging Theo in the arm with his elbow. “Did you see that shot? Damn, Kit-Kat.”

  Theo cups his hands around his mouth and yells. “That’s my sister.”

  They’re so damn loud the people sitting around us look over at Theo and Travis. The Baldwin twins take after their father with their height, lean, muscular build, and dark features. A few of the girls several rows in front of us are staring over their shoulders at them and licking their lips. The pretty redhead with big tits flags Theo down. He glances over at Travis, who gives him the go-ahead with the tip of his head.

  “We’ll be back,” Theo says to me.

  A mischievous smirk turns up the corner of Travis’ mouth as he winks.

  The twins hop over the seats in front of us. Theo slides his arm across the back of the redhead’s neck. Travis sandwiches himself between two blondes to their right, pulling one of them onto his lap. If Kat were here, she would lose her shit. She’s constantly yelling at her brothers for how they act with women. I’m supposed to “watch over them” for her. But there’s no way I’m telling Theo and Travis not to have fun. If I weren’t so damn in love with my best friend, I would be down there with them right now.

  After the game ends, I wait by the rink entrance for Kat as the Strickland Senators smack the hands of their opponents. Kat was the sole reason for this win at home. She dominated every second she was on the ice.

  I call out to Kat as she exits the ice. She cocks her head in my direction and rolls her eyes when I hold up my hand and gesture for her to come over with my index finger.

  “Did you just beckon me?” She rips off her gloves and holds them against her navy-and-white jersey.

  I shove my hands into my pockets and shrug, giving her one of my boyish smiles that make it impossible for her to be mad at me. “Umm… I guess so.”

  “You should know by now not to treat me like a puck bunny. I’m not your beck and call girl, Dean.” A hint of a smirk crosses her lips. She loves to give me shit. Isn’t that what best friends are for? “Don’t point your finger at me and expect me to come running over,” she finishes.

  The corners of my mouth turn up into a wicked grin. “But you did,” I point out.

  “No, don’t do that.” She shakes her head. “Dirty Dean doesn’t work on me.”

  I laugh at her comment.

  She’s used to women giving me more attention than I can handle. On plenty of occasions, I’ve gotten shitfaced and done stupid shit that has earned me the nickname Dirty Dean from Kat. Whenever I act like an ass, she’s quick to let me know that my alter ego has come out to play.

  “C’mon, Baldwin.” Kat’s coach yells from behind her. “Let’s get a move on.”

  Kat glances over her shoulder and says okay before turning her focus back to me. “I have to go before Coach gives me shit. Did you want something?”

  I shake my head. “Nah, I just wanted to say good game and tell you to get ready. We’re going out later.”

  Her eyebrows rise. “Oh, is that so? I didn’t realize you keep my social calendar.”

  “What were you planning to do tonight?”

  She bites her bottom lip. “I was thinking about hanging out with my teammates. A few of the girls were talking about going over to O’Shea’s later.”

  She removes the helmet cov
ering her long, blonde hair and pushes the sweat-matted strands from her forehead. My heart rate speeds up from this simple act. Despite my feelings for Kat, I’ve never even tried to kiss her. I value our friendship too much to make a move that could cost us everything.

  “You should come to the party at Delta Sig tonight,” I say. “I’m going with your brothers. Theo’s meeting some girl there.”

  Biting her cheek, she considers my proposal. “Okay, I guess. I should make sure Theo doesn’t get in trouble again.”

  “He doesn’t need you to watch over him.”

  She rolls her eyes. “This is Theo we’re talking about. Theo and Travis are worse than the Weasley twins. Someone has to make sure they don’t do something stupid.”

  “You don’t have to mother them. Just come with us. We’ll have fun. We don’t have a lot of time left before we graduate.”

  She sighs. “Okay, but I have to shower and eat first. I’ll meet you guys there.”

  I wink. “Sounds good.”

  “Where are they?” She scans the arena for her brothers. “I thought they came to the game with you?”

  I point in the twins’ direction.

  She follows my line of sight and sighs. “Hey, Fred and George,” she yells. “Get your butts over here.”

  Kat always compares her brothers to the Weasley twins from the Harry Potter books because of how much trouble they get into all the time. Theo gets up first. Travis is right behind him, tripping his brother to get down the center aisle to see Kat.

  These two live in their own world. I have no idea how Kat lived with them for so many years without losing her mind. I sleep one bedroom over from them in our on-campus house, and I have regretted my choice ever since. They keep me up most nights with either loud fights over dumb shit, video games, or the girls they bring home.

  “What’s up, Kit-Kat?” Theo says, beating Travis down the aisle. He clamps his big hand down on her padded shoulder.

  Travis pushes him out of the way. “Yeah, what’s up, sis? We were kinda busy.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Or trying to get busy… if you know what I mean.”

  She shakes her head and sighs. “I’m coming to the party later. Don’t act like assholes, please.”

  Travis slides his arm across the back of her neck, and Theo takes the other side, crushing her into hug.

  “Would you have fun for once, Kit-Kat?” Theo says. “You’re such a buzzkill.”

  “That’s because Dad yells at me every time you guys get in trouble. I don’t want to get reamed out by him for something I didn’t do.”

  “I’m a grown ass man,” Travis shoots back.

  “So am I,” Theo says.

  Kat rolls her eyes and laughs. “Any man that has to say in his defense ’I’m a grown ass man’ is usually not acting like one.”

  Theo snickers. Travis yawns, as if this conversation is too boring for him to tolerate.

  Kat smacks each of them on their muscular biceps. “I mean it. Don’t do any stupid shit tonight.”

  “We’ll be on our best behavior.” Travis holds up three fingers. “Scouts honor.”

  “Yeah,” Theo chimes. “We’ll behave ourselves.”

  They both look at each other and wink. Kat doesn’t notice that they’re both crossing their index and middle fingers. If she were paying attention, she would know they’re lying. The twins are so immature. I guess it has something to do with how they were raised. Austin and Duke, who are over five years older than Kat, babied her, and in turn, she did the same with the twins.

  After we discuss our arrangements for later, Kat walks away, glancing over her shoulder at me one last time before she heads toward the locker room. I watch Kat leave the rink, my heart pounding in my chest. I come to all of her games like some fanboy—because I am her biggest fan.

  Chapter Two

  Kat

  Digging through my closet, I look for something decent to wear. I flip through hangers of jeans, sweaters, and long sleeve shirts. None of this will work.

  Silvia, my roommate, strolls into my bedroom and stands behind me as I sift through my clothes. “You sure you don’t want to come with us to O’Shea’s?”

  With my back turned to her, I shake my head. “Nope, I’m good. I promised Dean I would meet him and the twins at Delta Sig.” I spin around after I’ve exhausted my pointless search. “What do you even wear to a frat party? Are jeans and a tee okay?”

  She shakes her head. “I doubt you’d get through the front door dressed that way.”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “Really? What’s wrong with jeans?”

  “You can wear jeans, but you’ll need a sexy shirt.”

  I snicker at her comment. “Me in something sexy? Please, who are you kidding?”

  “It wouldn’t kill you to dress like a girl for once. Besides, I bet Dean wouldn’t mind seeing you in something tight and showing too much skin.” She winks as she says the last part. “Dean hasn’t missed a game all season,” Silvia says, handing me a pair of skinny jeans from my closet.

  Silvia Clark has been my best friend since middle school. We moved from Chicago to Philadelphia together to attend Strickland University. She’s also annoying the hell out of me right now with her comments about Dean. But I still love her.

  “So, what’s the big deal if he comes to my games?” I take the jeans from her and slip into them. “Dean’s my best friend.”

  She plops down on my mattress with an irritated groan and snorts. “And what am I? Dog shit?”

  I quickly button my pants and change into a black tank top before spinning around to face her. “You’re both my best friends,” I shoot back. “Stop acting like a weirdo.”

  “I’ve known you way longer than Dean has,” she points out.

  I frown at her comment. “It doesn’t matter. You’re my best girlfriend, and Dean is my best guy friend. How about that?”

  “All I’m saying is Dean Crawford is a major fanboy. He follows you around campus like a lovesick puppy dog. And he’s hot. So, I would understand if your tongue ended up in his mouth.”

  “He doesn’t follow me around,” I challenge. “Dean’s just… protective of me.” I cock an eyebrow at her. “And did you just say he’s hot?”

  She gives me a wicked grin in the mirror as I fix my long, blond hair that’s still damp from the shower. “You know he’s hot, babe. Dean’s one of the hottest guys on campus. And he likes you as more than a friend. It’s impossible for men and women to just be friends.”

  I laugh at her comment. “Like you have much experience with being friends with a guy. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  She rolls her shoulders. “I know plenty of people who’ve given it a shot and ended up in bed together. You and Dean could be another statistic.” She winks. “I’m sure he’s a lot of fun if you know what I mean.”

  Rolling my eyes at her, I leave my bedroom in search of my wristlet. “I’m happy Dean and I have proved your theory wrong, then,” I say from our shared living room.

  “You never know, it could happen.”

  Checking under couch cushions, I groan in frustration. “We’ve been friends since freshman year, and Dean’s never made a move.”

  “Not yet,” she says from behind me. “But it’s bound to happen at some point.”

  “Why are you putting these ideas in my head before I meet up with him?”

  I find my wristlet under a couch cushion, holding it up with a victorious smile as a text message dings from the cell phone inside the leather case.

  “Not like Dean will make you pay to get into the party.”

  I shrug. “Maybe not but I hate when he pays for me. Money is tight for him and his mom. He works at Gio’s making pizzas at night just to send money home. He doesn’t have it easy like us.”

  “I like that Dean is old school,” she says. “Guys are into Dutch dating now. So few men still offer to pay anymore.”

  “One,” I say, raising a finger, “Dean is not my boyfriend. And tw
o,” I say, adding another, “I don’t think all men make you pay for yourself on a date. Just the cheap ones.”

  She chuckles, sweeping her black hair over her shoulder. “Maybe I just need better taste in men.”

  “Dean is off-limits,” I say before she can make another comment about him.

  “Because he’s yours?” She gives me a sly smirk.

  “No, Sil. Because he’s Dean. We don’t shit where we eat.”

  “Ooh, that’s a pleasant picture you just painted.”

  “We graduate in a few weeks. Dean will go back to Florida, and we’ll go back to Chicago to start our internships.”

  “Don’t you want to know if there’s something more between you two before you never see him again?”

  What is her problem tonight?

  “I’ll see Dean again. He’s staying with my family for a week when he comes for the NHL Draft.”

  “But what happens after that?”

  “He could get picked by the Blackhawks,” I counter. “Then, he’d be in Chicago with us.”

  “Or the Oilers could get him, and then he’d be in another country. What would you do then? Fly to Canada to see him?”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “Why are you being such a nag?”

  She blows out a deep breath. “You don’t see what other people see when they’re around you two. Duke and Austin give you shit about Dean because they see it, too.”