“How was work?”
He shrugs. “Fine.”
“I put some pizzas in the oven, they should be ready in a minute.”
“Smells good.”
We fall into an uncomfortable silence until my phone pings and I go to take the pizzas out.
I cut them up in the kitchen before bringing them back in.
Evan devours a few slices of pepperoni while watching the end credits to the cartoon.
“I’m surprised you’re not watching football or some shit,” he says, wiping his mouth on the paper towel I brought in.
“Why?”
He shrugs. “Just thought that’s what jocks do.”
I snort. “You do know tennis players are nerds, right?”
His eyebrow shoot up.
“Seriously. The football team, the hockey team, the lacrosse team … fine. But the tennis team? A bunch of skinny nerds in polo shirts.”
His eyes roam over my body and I feel my face flush.
“What about the frat thing?”
“Yeah, we’re in the nerdiest fraternity on campus, too. The football players and a few of the hockey guys are in one of the neighboring frats—the party frat.”
His lips quirk up on one side and he shakes his head. “I can’t believe all that shit’s actually real.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, it’s not all just in movies. People are actually in … ” He does little air quotes “‘Party frats.’”
My face gets even hotter and I rub the back of my neck. “Yeah, well....”
“What are the other guys like, in your ‘not party frat?’”
“The guys are mostly okay. Ben—a guy I rushed with—he’s a good guy, and he’s on the tennis team, too. Things are a bit weird with Mark since he started dating my ex-girlfriend.”
Evan’s eyebrows shoot up again. “What happened to bros before hos?”
“Well, one—we don’t call girls hos, and two—technically we’d broken up and he did ask my permission.”
He shakes his head. “So, they’re not hos, but you do have to call dibs?”
“No, not like-”
“What’s your role in this nerdy fraternity, then?”
It’s the first time he’s called it something other than a ‘frat’ with an air of disdain. I’m still embarrassed to tell him what my role is, but it would be weird if I ignored the question.
“I’m Vice President.”
Now he smiles. It’s not a totally mocking smile.
