Page 20 (1/2)

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 intiirl before I hter 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 toitching the puck to her right as the winger coainst the boards, and Kat scrairl 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 thea from the stands like an idiot that she’s irl I can never have

Over three years ago,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 fro 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 fro 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 da around us look over at Theo and Travis The Baldins take after their father with their height, lean, irls several rows in front of us are staring over their shoulders at the tits flags Theo down He glances over at Travis, who gives hio-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 hi 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 omen I’m supposed to “watch over the Theo and Travis not to have fun If I weren’t so damn in love with ht now