The Bet.

KEVIN

I know I am being punished.

Dean Matthews has practically handcuffed me to the one girl on campus who hates my existence and worse, I can't do anything to go against the almighty dean of Saint Haven University.

Fuck.

I kick open the front door of my house and barge inside. Reaching the living room, I toss my backpack onto the nearest couch.

“Finally!” My twenty-year-old younger brother, Mason, appears with a bowl of cereal balanced on one hand even though it's nearly six in the evening.

“You know mum will kill you for having cereal as dinner,” I remind him.

“Mom isn't home,” he retorts and shoves another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

Dickhead.

“So, how much trouble are you in?” He suddenly asks with a smirk.

I narrow my eyes at him. “What trouble?”

“Oh don't play dumb with me. I saw you heading towards the Dean's office today.”

Shit.

“Did you get suspended?” He blurts out.

“No.”

“Expelled?”

“No.”

“About to be arrested by the police?”

I glare at him.

“I guess it's time for me to stop guessing,” he mutters.

“Definitely. You should stop sticking your nose in other people's businesses.”

“But I can't help my nose.”

“Of course you can't,” I sigh and head towards the kitchen.

He follows me.

Now inside the kitchen and feeling thirsty, I grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

“So what happened?” He pushes again.

“I have to attend tutoring,” I finally answer.

He gasps. “What?!”

“Yeah. Three days a week.”

“Damn. Your grades must be very bad. Anyway, being tutored is not so terrible.”

“It is terrible for me, Mason. My tutor is Ava Hudson.”

He gasps again. “The mute girl?”

“Her name is Ava, not mute girl.”

“Sorry. I am just surprised. I…” he pauses, fighting back a laugh. “I can't believe your tutor is the same girl who bathed you with milk last month after you messed with her science notes.”

I glare at him. He is still fighting back a laugh.

“You know, if you want to laugh, you can laugh all you wan—”

He bursts into laughter without even letting me finish.

Asshole.

“Are you done?”

“No,” he shakes his head, laughing even harder. “You being tutored by your enemy is the funniest thing I have heard all year. You got assigned to the one girl on campus who hates your guts.”

I dump the bottle of water on the counter and cross my arms. “You know what?”

“What?”

“Since she hates my guts, how about I change that by making her fall in love with me?”

His laughter suddenly dies. “What?”

“You heard me. I am going to make Ava Hudson fall in love with me.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

He chuckles. “Kev, you have finally met your match. Just accept defeat now and save yourself the humiliation. Ava is not like other girls. She doesn't even give a bloody fuck about you.”

“I don’t care.”

“Dude relax. Not every girl will like you.”

“And who says I want every girl to like me? I am talking about Ava Hudson here. She is the girl I want and I am going to get her. Easy-peasy.”

He scoffs. “When you get rejected and kicked in the ass, don't say I didn't warn you. To be honest, most of your girl fans don't even like you. What they like are your face and abs.”

“Like I said, other girls don't matter to me.”

“Okay,” he points his spoon at me. “I will make you a bet.”

“I am listening.”

“If Ava Hudson falls for you before the semester ends, I will clean your room for a month.”

“And if she doesn't?”

He smirks. “You will clean mine.”

A sudden memory rush of his permanently messy bedroom floods through my mind:

Dirty socks. Video game cases.

And tons of laundry to build a fucking mountain.

I shake my head. “No thanks.”

“Are you scared?”

I scoff. “I am not scared.”

“Then prove it.”

“Deal,” I find myself blurting out the word without hesitation.

Dammit.

Anyway, what do I have to lose?

Besides, I am going to win.

Smiling to myself, I unfold my arms and we shake hands, sealing the deal.

“I can't wait to watch you lose,” he taunts.

“I never lose,” I snap back.

He laughs. “That's exactly what will make this bet so much fun.”