Page 4 of Loving a Warrior

Nothing to worry about.

Sloshing up on shore, Matt flopped in the sand, teeth chattering, jackhammer-shivering so hard he thought his heart might stop. Hell fuckin’ yeah, this was what he was here for.

He’d keep his eyes on the goal and off that hot ass.

Simple.

Chapter Two

“I need some volunteers!”

“Hooyah, sir.” Matt raised his hand and the class leader nodded at him.

“Good. Muster 0430 tomorrow morning at the training tank.” He raised his voice to shout, “Uniform inspection! Fall out!”

The class ran in formation toward the entrance to the grinder, the infamous patch of asphalt where hundreds of men before them had discovered—the hard way—what they were made of. Adrenaline heated Matt’s blood and he roared along with the others at the sight of the instructors lined up silently at the edge of the grinder, clipboards in hand.

Here we go. The only easy day was yesterday.

“Welcome to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, gentlemen.” One of the instructors started strolling up and down in front of the group. “My name’s Chief Toshi. The festivities officially begin tomorrow morning, but today we’re gonna inspect your uniforms. They’d better be in tip-top shape, people.” He stopped in front of a guy not far from Matt. “Tell me, why do we do this?”

The guy could only gape at Toshi, thoroughly intimidated.

“Too slow. Drop.”

The hapless trainee dropped for push-ups.

“When you’re here to become one of the deadliest warriors the U.S. military has to offer, when you’re here to become part of an elite community like no other, tell me: Why do we care about your fucking uniforms?”

He stopped in front of someone else.

“B-because it’s protocol, Chief?” the guy stammered out.

“Drop.”

Another helmet disappeared toward the ground.

“Why. Do. We. Do. This?” Toshi was pissed now.

“Attention to detail, Chief.”

Matt’s jaw tightened as the deep, husky voice sent a quiver through him. Shane.

“Correct. And why is attention to detail so important?”

“Because if you can’t trust me with my uniform, Chief, how’re you going to trust me with a weapon?”

“Exactly!” Toshi addressed the group. “How am I gonna trust you with my life out on the battlefield if I can’t even trust you to have some fucking clothes squared away?”

He paused to let that sink in before turning his attention back to Shane.

“You know a lot about clothes, do you?”

“No, Chief,” Shane said evenly.

“I bet you do. I bet you have a fashion degree.”

Derisive laughter from the instructor ranks.