Page 28 of Triton

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Aria

Erik walkedme on base and proudly introduced me to his friends. I couldn’t believe this place. There were gorgeous men everywhere I looked, but I was in the arms of the hottest one of themall.

I had always imagined these badass Navy SEALs to be complete assholes. So tough, so hard. But ever since I’d met Erik, I kept being shocked at how sweet he was. Masculine no doubt, but he seemed to care about everyone around him. His mother, his sister, and me. And now he wanted to dateme.

I had to tell him the truth.

“Lieutenant Commander Lawson, this is Aria Clements. You two have a lot in common. She’s an Olympic athlete. Lawson over here used to be a professional football player.”

“Nice to meet you, Aria. You can call meKyle.”

I shook Kyle’s hand and began to gush. “I read about you! You gave up your multi-million dollar contract to become a SEAL. Didn’t you save your wife from terrorists?”

His brow cocked. “I did. It wasn’t a big deal. Just another day on the job. The damn media outed me when we had our wedding. But it’s cool. We’ve worked with some of the Olympians who train down here in Chula Vista. Would you like to run our obstacle course? Erik can show you how it’sdone.”

Oh my God! Yes. I’d dreamed of having a crack at the world-famous obstacle course. I needed to remain cool. “I’d loveto.”

Erik grabbed my hand. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll show you how to do the “O” course if we go on a bike ride later today.”

Worry coiled through my body. Getting a shot at the “O” course was the opportunity of the lifetime. It would give me an advantage that no one else had going into BUD/S next year. And I rationally knew that I had a bigger chance of getting injured on the course than I did getting injured on the bike. Still, it was a mental barrier.

One I needed to break.

“Ok, deal.”

He grinned. “Let’s go, champ.”

Champ. A flush rose to my cheeks. He had called me that when he was going down on me. I couldn’t wait to be intimate with him again.

We walked over to the daunting tower and saw a few SEALs climbing the ropes.

Erik pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “You finish the “O” course now; I’ll give you an “O” later.”

“But I’m just a girl!” I teased. “I couldn’t possibly complete it. It’s made for you big, muscular men. I don’t have the strength or the endurance.”

He tickled me. “Smartass. I’ll test your endurance later. Let me show you how it’sdone.”

He ran in front of me, leaving me in the dust. First, he climbed on the parallel bars and pushed himself to the other end. Then he ran through the tires before climbing over a low wall. God, he was so ridiculously hot. When he had run over the tires, he had clasped his hands behind his neck, and I was mesmerized by his muscular forearms, his abs, and his massive thighs. Erik made everything look so effortless, but I knew how hard it all was. He ran over to an even taller wall, climbed the rope, and jumped off that one as well. I continued to watch, transfixed, as he low-crawled under some barbed wire before scaling the cargo net and running over some logs. Then he effortlessly jumped on the infamous Dirty Name obstacle.

I knew from studying that it had two hurdles—one at five feet and one at ten with four feet in between. He jumped up, belly flopped on the first hurdle, rose to his feet, and belly flopped on the second before jumping off. He ran over a few more logs, weaved in and out of this wood contraption before climbing another rope and walking on a horizontal rope that made a bridge, looking like a tightrope walker. Erik ran over a few more logs, then up a huge series of wooden platforms before he slid down the rope head first—the slide for life. Another rope swing led him to some monkey bars, up to a flat wall, over some vaults, and then finally he returned tome.

My entire body tingled and heat pooled between my legs. I was so turned on by his strength.

Before I could speak, he handed me a helmet.

“Your turn, champ.”

I strapped the helmet on my head, and my heart palpitated. “Let’s doit.”

I ran through the first few obstacles without a hitch. Crawling under the sharp barbed wire caused my insides to shake, but I kept my body low and made it out. I spat the grainy sand out of my mouth and ran toward the next obstacle. My forearms burned as I climbed yet anotherrope.

“That’s it, champ. You’re doing amazing.” His praise invigorated me. I wanted to make him proud ofme.

The cargo net was also a challenge, making sure to get a firm footing on the ropes. I’d read about one man who had become a paraplegic when his foot got caught in the netting. I pushed my fear aside, and I climbed to the top and backed down the otherside.

But then I came face to face with DirtyName.