The Bet (Ocean Cove University #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Phi Mu Phi - Grace

Idrive my G-Wagon along the Pacific Coast Highway on a hot August day, humming along to the radio. The sun shines brightly on the ocean, casting a golden shimmer over it. Palm trees tower overhead as I take the exit for Ocean Cove University.

Excitement prickles my spine. I’m eager for a new year on campus as a sophomore. I’m moving into my sorority house. I have a great new partner on the artistic swim team. I’m ready to focus on my major in literature and immerse myself in schoolwork.

Two things are absolutely NOT on my agenda, however.

I, Grace Walsh, will not engage in stupid sorority-house drama of any kind.

And I will one hundred percent not waste my time on any guy from OCU.

The music changes to the next pop song on my playlist, and I start singing.

My window is down to get that great ocean breeze, and my blonde hair is whipping all around me.

Coming back to La Jolla is coming back to where I belong.

It’s been a long summer at home, and no matter how many hours I worked teaching preschoolers at the swim school, I still managed to have way too many hours with my parents, constantly reminding me of the expectations they have for me this year.

Dean’s list. Lining up an internship. Those are two goals Mom and Dad share together.

But Mom? I grimace. She has her own list for me, and it all revolves around two things: studying literature and Phi Mu Phi.

The sorority where she was president when she was at OCU.

The sorority where my sister, Natasha, was the vice president five years ago.

And the sorority where Mom expects me to “exceed expectations” and “do very good things” this year.

My stomach twists as I think of all these expectations she has put on me.

Be a good girl, Grace. Study hard and be at the top of your class.

Work hard—or you won’t become a stellar author who will have publishers engaging in a bidding war over your manuscripts.

Remember, Grace, when you represent your sorority, you aren’t just representing yourself.

You’re representing me, your aunts, and Natasha.

You are a legacy—you have to uphold that, Grace.

Oh, and if artistic swimming interferes with studies or even sorority life? That could be dropped, Mom suggested. Because I wasn’t good enough to make the Olympics, just my collegiate team, it would be easy to put my time into something where I can truly “make my mark.”

Well, I won’t do that, I think, defiance rippling through me. The water is where I’m free of all this pressure. And it’s the last thing in the world I’d ever want to give up.

I grow happier as I drive past the Ocean Cove campus.

The original buildings are done in a Spanish style, with white stucco walls and smoked paprika-colored tiled roofs.

There’s a gorgeous bell tower in the center of campus, and lots of fountains splashed across the grounds.

I love it whenever I get a class in one of these original 1920s buildings.

I feel like it’s a privilege to study in such a historic piece of architecture.

The grounds of OCU are home. This is where I’m happiest, when I’m walking across this campus, surrounded by palm trees and wrought-iron lamplights, sipping an iced latte on the way to class.

Smelling the eucalyptus trees as the breeze ruffles through them.

Looking at the vibrant blooming flowers as I sit on a terrace, studying.

Yes, this might be where my entire family went to school, but when I’m here?

OCU is mine. It’s my experience now. And I plan to make my sophomore year the best year ever.

I turn on Clark Avenue—otherwise known as Greek Row.

The anticipation begins to build as I pass by all the mansions that house the sororities and fraternities affiliated with OCU.

I have to admit, there was never an option for me not to rush, but I was surprised at how much I love Phi Mu Phi.

I genuinely love my pledge class, and I found some girls who now make up my friend group.

While I’m a realist—when you’re in an organization of more than eighty, you aren’t going to like all of them, and they aren’t all going to like you—I do believe in the friendships I’ve made, the fun times I’ve had.

The money raised for our philanthropy last semester as a freshman made it all worthwhile, too.

Despite some occasional drama inside the house.

And that horrible incident with that fraternity I shall not name.

We do rush in the second semester at OCU, so I didn’t have to come early for potential new members.

Today is Thursday, and I have enough time to get moved in and have some fun with my friends before classes start Monday.

At the end of the block, I see our sprawling Spanish-style villa set up on a hill.

Palm trees line the drive, and the grass is a rich shade of green.

Hot pink roses climb up the retaining wall out front that gives our address and announces it as the Phi Mu Phi house.

I turn into the drive, finding it full of cars and girls moving in. I see a parking spot and reach for my iPhone in the cup holder. I quickly open Snapchat and record a video for my best friend and roommate, Madelyn Logan.

“Maddie! I just arrived! I’m parked and about to start bringing stuff up! Can’t wait to see your adorable face!”

I hit send. Then I take a moment to look at my reflection in the rearview mirror, my blue eyes staring back at me.

Okay, maybe driving with the window rolled down wasn’t the best idea.

My long hair is a flyaway mess, and I can see where it got stuck in my lip gloss and smeared it across my cheek.

I quickly clean that up with a tissue, then pull my hair up into a topknot using one of the elastic bands I always carry in my tote bag.

Ding!

I glance down at my phone and see Maddie has replied to my snap with a text:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I’m so glad you’re here! I’ll be right there with a dolly to help you move in! I’m so excited to be back at school!

Maddie is the sweetest person I know. She’s positive, happy, and always sees the best in people, even at their worst. The world needs more people like Maddie.

I wish I could be a bit more like her. I mean, I consider myself positive, but sometimes I let all these expectations I have on me weigh on my heart a bit. Sometimes, I can be the glass half-empty kind of girl.

But when I think of how Maddie’s positivity has hurt her at times, her belief in the good of all people—well, then I’m happy I am the way I am. I can be skeptical and a realist.

I’d like to think it has served me well.

I get out of the car, smoothing out the short pink skirt I’m wearing, paired with a tight white cropped T-shirt that shows just a bit of my toned abs.

It’s so hot today, and I’m going to be lugging things back and forth from my car, so this outfit will do the job nicely, along with my Golden Goose sneakers.

I open the hatch with my key fob and it pops up, revealing a trunk crammed full of stuff.

Everything from my swimming gear to a new comforter set for my room.

There are boxes of clothing—probably too many, since I love fashion—and towels, toiletries, and a whole bunch of things I was sure I needed when I packed them up.

Hm. Maybe I should have taken Mom and Dad’s offer to drive down with me and help me move in.

“Hey, baby!” a voice yells from across the street at that fraternity that shall not be named. “Need help moving in?”

I draw a breath of air and force myself to look at the house. The guys are out front, some hanging on the porch to drink cheap beer and drool over the girls who are moving in today.

I ignore the offer and stare at my pile of crap, trying to decide what to unload first.

Suddenly, I hear wheels on the pavement, and Maddie is rushing toward me, pushing the dolly.

I smile happily at my best friend. God, I missed her so much this summer!

Her long, shiny brown hair is swept back into a low ponytail, and she’s wearing a cropped T-shirt with our Greek letters on it.

Her espresso-brown eyes shine brightly at me, and as soon as she reaches my SUV, she parks the dolly next to it and hurries toward me.

“Gracie! I’ve missed you so much!” she declares, throwing her arms around me and hugging me tight. “I am so glad we’re back at school!”

I hug Maddie back hard, the familiar scent of her perfume washing over me. She was with me through that awful time last year with the stupid fraternity shit, and I’m so happy to be living with her in the house this year.

She steps back from me. “We’re going to have the best year!”

“We are,” I say, nodding my head.

“Now, I have good news and not-so-good news. What do you want first?”

“Not-so-good news? How can that be? The house just opened this morning!”

“I know, I’m sorry. What do you want to hear first?”

“I’ll take the good news first,” I say, putting a box on the dolly.

Maddie turns and picks up another box. “Okay. Across the hall from us? McCall and Sofia!”

Ooh, that is good news! McCall and Sofia are also in our pledge class, and Maddie and I are close friends with both girls.

“Nice! We’ll be able to barge into their room all the time,” I say happily. “Now, give me the crap news, please.”

Maddie sighs. “I guess I should warn you it’s two-fold. I’ll give you the best of the worst first. Our room faces the fraternity that shall not be named, so we’ll have to see them anytime we look out the window.”

“Okay, that’s not the best news in the world, but I have to look at their stupid house anytime I leave ours, so I can handle it. What’s the other news?”

“UGH, we’re doing a mixer with them next Friday night.”

I furrow my brow. I already knew about this. An email went out announcing all our activities next week, and you have to sign up for the events to participate. A mixer is when we go over to a fraternity’s house, have dinner, dance, and drink—if you want.

But they’re always optional.

“Yes, I knew this, but I’m not signing up for that one.”

Maddie leans closer to me, just to make sure nobody else can hear our conversation.

“The dragon is on the warpath about setting the right tone for the year and being a good mixer partner. She was breathing fire over it in the living room, saying she expects all fucking sophomores to attend or we’ll look like ass clowns. ”

I burst out laughing. “Ass clowns?”

Maddie begins to laugh, too. “Yes, you should have seen some of the girls’ expressions. They were shocked she talked to them like that.”

Oh, I’m so not shocked. “So she’s already starting off like we expected,” I muse.

Kaitlyn Crandall is our sorority president and the fakest person I’ve ever met. She puts on a good face when she needs to, but if you don’t align with her thought process or do what she wants?

She’s one hundred percent a mean girl.

Even Maddie doesn’t like her, so that’s a red flag if I ever saw one. Kaitlyn is militant about Phi Mu Phi—it’s her whole identity and her whole purpose.

And it should be that exact same thing for every girl in the sorority, in her eyes.

Ooh, that kinda sounds like how my mom was back in the day. I’ll have to do a deep dive on that later.

Kaitlyn believes everyone should think about the sorority exactly like she does—and if you don’t? Well, she’s smart enough not to put her thoughts in writing, so she’ll tell you to your face what she really thinks.

Kaitlyn is such a delight.

“You know, we need to change her nickname,” I say. “She’s more like a general.”

“The general,” Maddie snickers. “We’ll have to let McCall and Sofia know.”

We load up the dolly and take it back to the sorority house, which is buzzing with activity today.

It truly is beautiful inside, with a marble entryway, a spiral staircase, and a luxurious living room decorated in shades of cobalt blue and white, our sorority colors.

There are rooms for studying—complete with soundproof pods—and a huge kitchen that serves three meals a day, five days a week, with amenities like a smoothie station.

Our dining room is spectacular, with dark wood tables and fancy Chippendale dining-room chairs.

There’s also a workout room, media room, and chapter room, where meetings are held every Monday night.

We wait in line for an elevator, and as soon as one comes open, we load the dolly in and head up to the second floor. Maddie leads me to our room. I see she’s got mounds of stuff on her side, and it’s obvious it will take us hours to get organized.

I pause by the window and part the curtains, looking outside. Across the street, the fraternity idiots are still on the porch, and I fully expect their lawn to be littered with cheap beer cans before dinner.

However, two guys have moved from the porch to play catch on the lawn.

I pause for a moment, as one guy drops back to throw, and the other guy runs across the lawn to make the catch.

Even though he’s in that stupid fraternity, I can’t help but notice that his tanned, shirtless body is athletic.

He’s wearing navy shorts and a backward baseball cap, which is something I always like on a guy.

My gaze travels over him. Brown hair sticks out from underneath the hat, and as he turns, I can see his entire body is muscular, but especially his ass and legs.

He makes a cut to catch the ball, eliciting cheers from those watching. Whoever he is, he’s a natural athlete. I knew that within seconds of watching him.

Too bad he’s a part of that house because he is hot.

I quickly drop the curtain and clear my throat.

Okay, wasn’t this the second thing on my list of things not to do this year?

I have so much going on with artistic swimming, my courses, and General Kaitlyn expecting us all to go to every event ever created.

I don’t have time for stupid college boys.

And I say time, because I’m a dating kind of girl.

Hooking up is fine, but that’s not for me.

I want to find someone to have a relationship with, which most likely will never happen at OCU.

Most guys here seem happy with hooking up or situationships. Not relationships.

Especially guys from THAT fraternity.

I would never trust a guy from THAT fraternity anyway.

Regardless, dating takes time, and that is a commodity that I don’t have. So that solves that, doesn’t it?