glamoured into the PiKa boys. The horrified look on Vivi’s face was enough to make Scarlett smile even now.
“What’s so funny?” Mason asked, his chest rumbling beneath her head.
“Just thinking about the mixer last night. It was fun, right?”
“I guess,” he said. She felt him shrug.
“Not entertaining enough for you, Mr. Gregory?”
“I mean, it’s a mixer. It’s the same shit as always. Jotham spent half the night trying to win Molly back and then the rest of the night making out with one of her best friends. Benjamin threw up in the pool after everyone left. And the pledges, I swear, are clones of our class. Same bros, different color polo shirts. It’s boring.”
“Nice way to talk about your house’s party.” Scarlett frowned. She’d made a point to pull Mason onto the dance floor so that they would have some time together. He had looked like he was having fun, but had she misread it? Had she misread him? Sure, he hadn’t worn a tux like he was supposed to, but he’d told her he’d forgotten to pack it after his vacation, and she’d taken him at his word. Now, though, she saw something else. Maybe he’d just chosen not to wear it. And, yes, maybe there were a few too many PiKas ordering their Solo cups “shaken, not stirred.” But that was just part of Greek life, laughing at dumb expected jokes with your friends. With Gwen back, Scarlett wished the worst problem the Kappas faced was getting bored.
“Honestly, I don’t know if they’re going to be my house that much longer,” Mason said.
Scarlett furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about?”
“When was the last time you read a book for fun?”
Scarlett tensed. This felt like a test. And she and Mason were supposed to be long past the stage of “Are we right for each other?” questions. “Why?”
He sighed, his look faraway. “Jotham ragged on me for half an hour for reading something that wasn’t on the syllabus.”
“That’s just Jotham being Jotham.”
“That’s PiKa being PiKa,” he corrected.
“I don’t think you’re being fair to your brothers.”
“That’s the thing—they aren’t my brothers. They’re not even necessarily my friends. I asked myself if I would choose them if they weren’t already in PiKa, and honestly, I’m not so sure.”
Scarlett squinted against the sun. “Where is this coming from? You adore Jotham.”
“And he’ll be my friend with or without PiKa.”
“Without PiKa?” she asked, on red alert now.
She felt his chest rise and fall in a sigh. “I’m thinking about quitting PiKa.”
“What?” Scarlett sat bolt upright and spun to stare down at her boyfriend. He stretched and sat up too, running a hand through his messy dark curls.
“What? It’s not that big a deal.”
“Mason, what about your brothers? What about your dad? Every male Gregory has been a PiKa for the past three generations.”
Mason laughed and reached over to take her hand. “Scar, I admire your loyalty, but you take all this Greek stuff way more seriously than I ever have. I know Kappa is really special for you, and I respect that. But . . . ‘brothers,’ ‘pledging.’” He shrugged. “PiKa is just a social club. It’s a nice way to network, I guess, get to know people. But I only joined in the first place because my dad wanted me to, and last night, as we stood there talking to the same old people about the same old shit, I just felt . . . bored. Like, is this how I want to spend my nights for the rest of college?”
“You mean with your best friends and your girlfriend?” Scarlett said pointedly. She flashed back to the first time she met him. The Pikiki party. The plumeria. PiKa was part of their story. And now he was shitting on it.
“Scar, our relationship doesn’t depend on my membership in a fraternity.” His expression sobered. “Or at least, it shouldn’t.”
“Of course it doesn’t. I just don’t understand. Did something happen—did you get into it with another PiKa?”
Mason shook his head. “No, nothing like that.”
“So what’s the problem, then?”
“I just . . .” He sighed again, clearly frustrated. “Don’t you ever just want to try something new? Throw out all the rules and plans and find out what life could be if you stopped telling it how it should be?”
Scarlett stared at her boyfriend. Where was this coming from? Why was he changing so much, so suddenly? An image of Vivi and Mason laughing in the cafeteria, the easy way he’d rested his hand