Page 23 of Triton

“No. She shouldn’t. It would ruin unit cohesion.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. “So are you saying that a woman couldn’t pass BUD/S, or are you saying that a woman could pass BUD/S but then still shouldn’t be aSEAL?”

He gave me a hard glare. “I’m saying that we are the most elite special operations force in the world. I’m not talking about women serving in the military. I’m talking about women serving in combat units. In theory, it’s great, and I support women’s rights to do any job. But academics and politicians can’t understand the special operations battlefield. If a woman were captured by the enemy, she would be raped and tortured. If you have a small SEAL unit and the men are competing for the attraction of a female, it will take the focus off the mission.”

I wanted to yell at him, but couldn’t clue him into my vested personal interest in this topic. “That’s ridiculous. I assume you don’t think gay men should be in the SEALs either?”

“Why does everyone compare gender to sexual orientation? You are wrong. I have no problem with gay SEALs. In fact, I have two buddies in the Teams who are gay. But they are on separate Teams and would never have a relationship during a mission.”

“But a woman can’t control herself? Or you guys can’t control yourselves around a woman?”

“It’s biology. I wanted to fuck you the moment I saw you. So did my friend. If you were on my Team, all my buddies would want to fuck you also. It would distract from our mission. Not to mention the spouses of my Teammates wouldn’t be happy to know that a female was serving alongside their husbands on long combat missions. Sometimes we spend months living in the middle of fucking nowhere in a dirthole.”

I stared at him, disgusted by his answers. Why had I slept with this asshole? I had been wrong. We had nothing in common at all. If all SEALs thought as he did, I was in for a challenge even rougher than I imagined.

He placed his hand on mine, but I retracted from his grasp. “Sorry. I get worked up about this. There isn’t even a woman in the BUD/S pipeline, so we don’t have to worry about this debate for a while.”

Ha. There is too a woman in the pipeline, buddy. You are looking right ather.

I sulked like a child—pushing my food around with my fork on the plate. I couldn’t even look at this guy. I needed to get out of here. Get some clear air before I lostit.

His arm reached out to touch mine across the table. I snapped itaway.

“What’s wrong? Are you that upset about my opinion?”

“It’s disappointing. That’sall.”

He stood up and tried to pull me out of my chair but resisted. “Let’s not ruin the day over this. We can agree to disagree.”

No, we can’t. Next January, you will learn the truth. My name will be plastered on the newspapers. As the first female in BUD/S.

I stood up to leave. “Thanks for breakfast. I need to get going and walk mydog.”

He ground his teeth and glared at me. “Fine.”

I grabbed my purse, walked out the door, and pressed the elevator button.

Ever since I’d met him, he had seemed like so much more. He was sweet with his family, had been kind and patient with me, and had seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me. So far, there was no indication that he was using me for anything. I felt we had truly connected, on even more than just a physical level. I thought about him every day last week. He had made me feel beautiful and desirable and not a bit like the awkward dork I saw myself as. And I had been charmed by his laid back yet masculine So-Cal surfer boy charm.

But I had known better than to go on a date with Erik. He was nothing but a typical chauvinist pig. He had been nothing but a distraction.

A completely drop dead gorgeous, mind blowing, orgasm-giving distraction.

I refused to allow myself to be sidelined from my dreams by aman.