“Nolan panicked,” Axel answers.
“Hey! I didn’t fucking panic. I just figured she would want someone with her who she actually knows.”
Chelsea giggles. “You were doing a good job consoling me, though.”
Nolan gives Axel a smug smile. “See. Asshole.”
Axel walks up behind Nolan, threads his fingers through his hair, and jerks his head back to whisper something in Nolan’s ear that has his face turning forty shades of red. “Wait. No secrets,” Chelsea says before I can.
“You don’t want to know what he just said,” Cole laughs.
Chelsea and I raise our hands. “I do,” we say at the same time, then start laughing.
“Go ahead, Naughty boy. Tell them what I said.”
Nolan turns to us with a grin and winks at Chelsea. “He threatened to spank me for calling him an asshole. I guess the truth hurts.”
“You’ve met your match with him,” Cole comments.
“It’s about damn time,” Kai mutters.
“I’m not an asshole,” Axel grumbles, flopping in the chair beside Nolan.
Chelsea starts laughing so hard that she’s wheezing. “Yes, you are,” she gasps between laughs. “You always have been.”
“She’s got you there. I’m pretty sure you came out of the womb with a scowl and a bad fucking attitude,” Cole says. He and Chelsea high-five, which sets them off laughing again.
“Whatever,” Axel says, acting offended, but I can see his lips twitch. He pulls out his phone and calls Ari, filling him in on everything that’s going on.
“Tell him to get my grenade launcher!” Cole yells.
“You have a grenade launcher?” I ask. “Since when?”
“That first warehouse we stormed was loaded with them. Axel let me have one.”
“Axelletyou have one?” Chelsea laughs.
“Uh huh, and it was the best day ever.”
“I want a grenade launcher,” I pout when Axel hangs up the phone.
Axel rolls his eyes. “We have them all in storage, among other things. Ari and his team stormed the other warehouses last night.”
My eyes widen. “You let Ari take point on this?”
Axel shrugs. “I don’t have to be involved in everything. I need to trust the people who trust me. Ari’s team can handle it.” Cole and I exchange a look. “Stop that,” Axel barks.
“And there he is,” Nolan comments, not looking away from his computer. “Asshole Axel is never far behind.”
“You’re pushing it, Nolan,” Axel growls.
“I like him,” Chelsea says. “He doesn’t bow down and kiss his ass.”
“Right?” I agree. “He puts him in his place all the time.”
“Who knew that all Axel needed was a good piece of ass to calm the fuck down,” Cole adds.
Kai chuckles. “It’s like he hit some kind of asshole reset button.”