Chapter 6 Shane
SHANE
“Do you know what this meeting is about?” Paxton asks as he falls into step beside me.
“Not sure,” I say as we head down the hall together. “Maybe more security stuff?”
“Yo, Kyle,” he shouts at one of our frat brothers who’s about a dozen paces ahead of us.
“Yeah?” Kyle pauses walking and waits for us to catch up to him. “What’s up?”
“Did you hear anything about the meeting?” Paxton asks.
Kyle shakes his head. “Just that it’s happening.”
“Am I the only one who thinks this is weird?” Paxton asks.
“Yup,” Kyle and I say together.
“Really?” Paxton asks incredulously. “When was the last time they called a meeting an hour before it was supposed to start?”
“When we had that security briefing.” Kyle shoots Paxton a quick look and pushes the door to the stairwell open. “Maybe this has something to do with that?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Paxton says, but he still doesn’t look convinced.
It’s true that house meetings are usually scheduled days, if not weeks, in advance, and we’ve only had a handful of same-day meetings in the years we’ve been members, but an impromptu house meeting isn’t something I have the bandwidth or the energy to care about right now.
What I’m concerned about is that I’m going to have to face Jace again, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.
It’s been almost a week since the incident in my room, and I’ve spent most of that time confused as fuck and trying to wrap my head around what happened.
I still don’t know how we went from fighting to rubbing off on each other, but we did.
I can’t erase it, and I definitely can’t forget it. But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with it.
Jace being a guy isn’t the part that’s fucking with me. It’s the fact that he’s Jace, the person who pisses me off more than anyone ever has.
Would I have enjoyed it with anyone else? And would it have even happened if I hadn’t been in one of my reckless moods?
And why, out of all the guys in the world, did it have to happen with him?
The slamming of the stairwell door behind us shakes me free from my reverie, and I push those thoughts to the back of my head as we head toward the stairs that will take us to the basement.
The last thing I need is for anyone to notice how distracted I am and start asking questions I’m not ready to answer.
I wait as Kyle taps his ID on the sensor to open the door, and the three of us hurry down the stairs and toward the main meeting room that’s just past the house pool.
We catch up to a few other brothers in the hallway and file into the room one after the other, making sure to tap our IDs on the door sensor to log our presence at the meeting.
About half the guys are already there, and my eyes cut around the room as I search out the one face I don’t want to see. Thankfully it looks like none of the Hawthornes have arrived yet, and I relax slightly as I claim one of the plush chairs next to the one Paxton has sprawled out on.
The meeting room is just as ridiculous and extra as the rest of the house, with its low lighting, black padded walls that are apparently for extra soundproofing, and the raised dais surrounded by a semicircle of extra plush stadium-like seats.
The only good thing is that the chairs are comfortable, and the low lights make it easy to zone out without anyone noticing.
I only half listen as the guys around me talk in hushed voices. Even though there aren’t any cameras or recording devices in the room, everyone always whispers when we’re in here.
A familiar laugh draws my attention to the door, and I swing my head toward it before I can stop myself as Jax, Jace, and Killian come into the room.
My throat tightens as I watch them tap their IDs, and I’m just tearing my eyes from the trio when Jace slides his gaze from his brother to me, instantly seeking me out like he knew exactly where I was.
I freeze as our gazes lock. Is he going to be a dick about things? He hasn’t told anyone what happened, at least not as far as I know. Is he waiting to make a scene?
I brace for some sort of reaction from him, but he just shoots me a smirky grin that makes my stomach do that flip-flopping thing again and follows his brother to a group of empty chairs on the other side of the room.
He doesn’t spare me another glance as he and Killian start talking quietly about something, and I hastily drop my gaze to the floor, my cheeks flushing hotly.
Am I blushing? I can’t remember the last time I blushed. What the actual hell?
“You okay?” Paxton asks quietly.
“What?” I jump and whirl toward him.
He shoots me a strange look. “Are you okay? You look weird.”
“Thanks,” I say dryly. “That’s exactly what a guy wants to hear.”
He bumps his arm against mine and grins. “Just keeping it real with you. But seriously, are you okay? You look a little flushed.”
“Fine,” I say quickly.
“Okay, if you say so.” He shoots me another look and turns back to Kyle.
Dan slides into the chair on my other side and gives me an upnod. “How’s it going?”
Fantastic. I’m totally not freaking out about being in the same room as the guy I rubbed off on last week. The same guy who happens to be the closest thing I’ve ever had to an archnemesis.
“Good, you?” I say instead.
“Good. Not all that happy about this meeting, but what can you do?”
“Same, but like you said, what can you do?”
Thankfully Dan doesn’t seem to be in the mood to talk, and he rests his head against the back of his chair and closes his eyes. I spend the next few minutes trying to calm the fuck down as the rest of the members trickle in.
At exactly one minute before the meeting is supposed to start, the door bangs open, and Jordan, Nico, and Axel walk in. Everyone instantly falls silent as our leaders make their way to the center of the room.
“I call this meeting to order,” Jordan says when the three of them are on the dais. “Let the record show that the time is eighteen hundred hours and the room is secure.”
“So recorded,” Axel says and presses a button on what looks like a key fob to lock the door and secure the room.
Every meeting starts with this spiel, and after almost three years as a member, I still have no idea if the meetings are actually recorded since no one ever seems to take notes of what’s said during them.
“I bet you’re all wondering why we called you here today.” Jordan looks around the room.
A low murmur filters through the group as several guys nod and quietly agree.
“We have a few announcements,” Jordan continues. “And we figured it was best to get them out of the way now instead of waiting and delivering them one by one at later meetings.”
Another low murmur fills the room as some of the guys start whispering to each other, but a stern look from Nico is enough to shut them up.
Our leaders are known for their short tempers and creative punishments, and we all know better than to interrupt or piss them off when they’re talking.
While all three men have the title of leader, they’re each responsible for a different facet of running the house.
Jordan is the main leader, which means he’s in charge of all the admin and is the tiebreaker when the three of them can’t agree on something.
Nico is the head of our physical security, and Axel is in charge of our cybersecurity and surveillance.
I’ve heard rumors that Axel has a small team of hackers who work with him and Carter, but I’m not sure if it’s true.
It’s hard to imagine anyone in the room as some sort of hacking genius when most of the guys’ favorite pastimes seem to be spending their parents’ money and binge drinking until they pass out.
Usually there’s a fourth leader who’s supposed to act as the member wrangler, which basically means they’re the ones who deal with discipline and any interpersonal issues that pop up between members, but that position was dropped last year and absorbed by the others, so now we only have three leaders instead of four.
Almost without my permission, my gaze flicks to Jace.
Before I can return my attention to Nico, Jace’s eyes meet mine, and it’s like the entire room fades out of existence for a few seconds as our gazes lock.
The look in his eyes is hard to read from this far away, but the intensity of his stare makes me squirm in my seat.
He must notice my reaction because the side of his mouth lifts in a smirk, and he tosses me a wink that sends little tingles through me.
Tearing my gaze from his, I drop my eyes to the floor as heat returns to my cheeks with what is most definitely a blush.
How the hell can he affect me so much with just a look?
Is this leftover from what happened in my room?
He’s never had this kind of effect on me before.
Usually all I feel is annoyance and a little rage when I look at him, but now I’m getting all flustered and tingly? What the actual fuck is wrong with me?
“The first announcement is that there are going to be some changes around here,” Axel says, bringing my attention back to the meeting and away from Jace and his magnetic stare. “One of those changes is that key logs are going to be installed on everyone’s doors.”
Several guys make sounds of protest and start talking to each other in hushed voices, but Axel just holds up one hand to silence them.
Our private rooms are pretty much the only place on campus where our comings and goings aren’t logged and we have any sort of semblance of control and privacy. Why are they taking that away now?
“We know that’s not what anyone wants, but it’s just a temporary measure while we deal with some security issues,” Axel says calmly. The fact that he’s gentle parenting us instead of using his usual “my way or the highway” tactics is almost as concerning as the announcement.
The change being a temporary measure is reassuring, but I have to wonder what their definition of temporary is. Are we talking a few months? Until the end of the year? Or is this going to be an ‘until further notice’ type thing?