It was rare any member of the team went out in one because—shiny, black, and kitted way the fuck out—they were known by a certain element of Denver and the crew tended to operate in most cases in stealth mode.

But where they were going, they were making a statement.

Axl was driving, Auggie in the passenger seat, and they’d reached their destination, so Axl was scanning for a parking spot.

He also answered Auggie’s question about his date with Hattie.

“Torture.”

“It didn’t go well?” Auggie sounded flipped out.

This was understandable, partly because Aug knew how hard Axl had worked to get last night, and partly because Auggie was next up with Pepper.

If he ever pulled his finger out.

Axl found a spot on the street and started maneuvering into it, saying, “When she’s not shy, she babbles. It’s not annoying or nervous and incomprehensible. It’s her and it’s cute. She reads. She’s got interesting takes on movies that are deeper than the norm. She’s curious about me and doesn’t hide it. She’s into me and doesn’t hide that either.”

“That doesn’t sound like torture,” Aug noted when Axl quit speaking.

He shut down the Hummer and turned to his friend. “And she was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress that was very short, her heels were very high, her hair was down, and at the end of the date, I took her to my place where she changed to go to work. Then after work, I picked her up and took her back to my place, where she slept in my bed and I slept on the couch. And right now, seeing as she left work after two in the morning, I suspect she’s still in my bed.”

Aug grinned. “Gotcha.”

“Yeah,” Axl agreed, not grinning.

They turned to their respective doors and got out.

They then moved in unison across the street toward their destination: an apartment complex.

Aug did it talking.

“So essentially, it was a great date.”

Axl stopped dead on the sidewalk and leveled his eyes at his bud.

“I think you can now take it as proven Lottie knew what she was doing. Her picks for us weren’t random, brother.”

Aug looked toward the door of the apartment complex.

In other words: We’re not talking about this.

“We got shit to do,” Axl continued. “We don’t got time to stand and chat on a sidewalk. Just…you hear what I’m sayin’?”

Auggie looked back at him. “It’s not me, it’s her.”

“Yeah, and it wasn’t me, it was Hattie.”

“You’ve had one date,” Auggie pointed out.

“Right, then wait it out. Lottie’s picks turn to three matches, three wins, you need to get the lead out.”

“It’s not just Pepper, Axe. If it was just her, we’d be there already. She’s got a kid.”