The Deal (Off-Campus, 1)

New York Times bestseller and TikTok sensation Elle Kennedy brings you the first in the sexy Off-Campus series that everyone is talking about.

The series that inspired Amazon Prime's Off-Campus – Now Streaming!

She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy...

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she's carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush's attention, she'll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice...even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

...and it's going to be oh so good

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he's worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he's all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn't take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn't going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a BA in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.

Elle is the author of more than fifty contemporary fiction and romance novels, published by a variety of major houses. Her work includes the Off-Campus series, the global phenomenon which has captivated millions of readers around the world.

The Deal by Elle Kennedy is a contemporary new adult romance set at Briar University, centered on a sharp, driven music major and a charming, cocky hockey player whose lives become unexpectedly intertwined through a simple arrangement that turns into something much more complicated. Hannah Wells is focused, talented, and serious about her future. She’s determined to land a coveted A in a difficult class, because that grade matters for her academic ambitions and her plans beyond college. At the same time, she’s quietly nursing a crush on a popular football player, a guy who barely notices her. Hannah is smart enough to know she’s not invisible, but her past trauma and the social dynamics of college life leave her feeling like someone who slips under the radar, especially when it comes to romance. Into this picture strides Garrett Graham, star hockey player, team captain, and one of the most noticeable guys on campus—a golden boy whose swagger hides a lot more depth than most people realize.

Garrett’s world is very different from Hannah’s. He lives and breathes hockey, and his future depends on his performance on the ice. But when he fails a crucial class, his eligibility to play is threatened. If his grades don’t improve, he could lose his spot on the team and derail his dreams of a professional career. Garrett is used to getting what he wants, through charm, persistence, or sheer force of personality, but this time he needs something specific: tutoring from the girl who just aced the exam he bombed. Hannah has exactly what he lacks in this class—understanding and discipline—and he recognizes her as his best chance to fix the problem. However, she has no interest in being drawn into his orbit. She sees him as arrogant, annoying, and part of the confident athlete crowd that she doesn’t trust.

The deal of the title emerges when Garrett figures out what Hannah wants: the attention of the football player she’s crushing on. He offers a straightforward trade. If Hannah agrees to tutor him and help him pass the class, Garrett will use his social status and their staged interactions to help her get noticed by her crush. He’ll pretend to date Hannah, or at least be seen with her, making her suddenly visible in a way she hasn’t been before. Reluctantly, and after repeated pressure from Garrett, Hannah agrees. On the surface, it’s a practical arrangement. She gets a shot at romance with the guy she thinks she wants, and he gets his grades back on track so he can stay on the ice. What neither of them fully anticipates is that this fake connection will become very real, and that the person they most need might not be the one they originally had in mind.

As Hannah and Garrett begin spending time together, their initial friction slowly turns into genuine rapport. Hannah is witty and unafraid to call Garrett out on his behavior. She doesn’t let him coast on charm or status, and she challenges him intellectually and emotionally. Garrett, in turn, starts seeing Hannah as far more than just the girl who can help him pass a class. He learns about her love of music, her talent, and her underlying strength. Most importantly, he begins to understand that Hannah carries deep scars from a sexual assault in her past, an experience that shattered her sense of safety and still affects how she approaches intimacy and relationships. The book handles this trauma as a central part of her character, shaping her vulnerability without reducing her to a victim. Hannah is strong, but that strength exists alongside real pain.

Garrett’s reaction to Hannah’s past is crucial to the way their relationship develops. He doesn’t treat her trauma as something to fix in a simplistic way; instead, he listens, respects her boundaries, and supports her without pity. His initial image as the cocky player begins to peel away, revealing someone with his own complex family issues—especially with a controlling, abusive father—who has learned to wear confidence like armor. Their shared experiences with pain, control, and expectation allow them to connect on a deeper level. The “deal” that began as a purely strategic move slowly shifts into emotional territory. Garrett becomes protective of Hannah in a healthy, respectful way, and Hannah finds that with him, she can explore closeness and trust again at her own pace, on her own terms.

College life provides a lively backdrop to their evolving romance. Parties, classes, locker-room dynamics, and the intense world of Briar’s hockey team all shape the story. Garrett’s teammates add humor and camaraderie, showing the strong bonds within the team and establishing the broader universe that will continue into later books in the series. Hannah’s friends also matter, giving her support and reminding her that she does not exist solely in relation to Garrett or her trauma. The novel balances serious emotional moments with banter and lightness, capturing the messy energy of college years—where people are both growing up and still making impulsive choices.

The fake-dating aspect of their arrangement creates plenty of conflict and tension. As Garrett and Hannah perform for the benefit of others, lines between pretending and reality blur. Hannah continues to believe that her true goal is to win the attention of her original crush, but the more time she spends with Garrett, the more that idea feels out of step with her actual feelings. Garrett, meanwhile, falls for her with increasing intensity and has to face the possibility that Hannah may still see him simply as a friend, a project, or part of the bargain they struck. Misunderstandings, jealousy, and fear of hurt complicate things, but the underlying connection between them keeps pulling them back together.

A large part of the story’s emotional impact lies in Hannah’s slow reclaiming of her own desire and agency. Her past assault deeply affected her relationship with sex and trust, and she has worked hard to build a functioning life despite it. With Garrett, she finds someone patient and genuinely caring, who isn’t threatened by her pace or her boundaries. Their physical relationship, when it does develop, is presented as deeply consensual, respectful, and anchored in communication—which becomes a healing experience for Hannah. For Garrett, loving Hannah means confronting his own family issues, standing up against his father, and deciding what kind of man he wants to be, beyond the expectations attached to his hockey career.

As the book moves toward its later stages, the stakes become more emotional than academic. The class that prompted their arrangement fades in importance next to the question of whether they can admit what they feel, face their pasts, and choose each other openly. There are setbacks: arguments, painful revelations, and moments where fear makes one or both of them pull away. But the heart of the story is their decision to stop hiding—behind deals, fake dates, or old dreams—and to acknowledge that the person who truly sees them is right in front of them. The “deal” that started as a trade for grades and attention transforms into a mutual commitment rooted in honesty, trust, and shared vulnerability.

By the end of The Deal, Hannah and Garrett have moved far beyond their initial roles of tutor and athlete. Hannah gains more confidence in her own worth, independent of anyone’s popularity or approval, and she takes further steps toward healing from her trauma while embracing her talent and future. Garrett, in turn, learns that his identity is more than just a hockey star or a son reacting to a difficult father; he can be a partner who listens, supports, and loves deeply. Their romance feels earned because it grows through honest conversations, moments of humor, and the gradual breakdown of their defenses. The book ultimately delivers a story about two people who strike a bargain for practical reasons and end up finding exactly what they didn’t know they needed: real connection, safety, and love in a world where both have been hurt before.