The guy stared at her a few seconds more, clearly giving her a chance to narc on her classmate, but she just stared back at him implacably. They both knew what had happened out there. She didn’t need to say anything. Reluctantly, a spark of respect lit in the guy’s eyes just before he spun away from her, shouting at someone else to get his pansy ass in gear.

She caught glimpses of Griffin from time to time, but he stayed away from her, merely observing. He’d told her she would have no trouble with the INDOC training and that he wouldn’t be interacting with her there, since he was going to be working the actual BUD/S course with her.

* * *

The three interminable weeks of INDOC passed without any more incidents from Grundy. Whether the instructors had a talk with him, or he feared getting kicked out if he was too big an asshole, Sherri had no idea. She was just grateful for the break from the constant harassment.

They had one whopping day off between INDOC and BUD/S, and she planned to spend every minute of it sleeping.

Except at 9:00 a.m. sharp, a knock on her door woke her up. What the heck? She got out of bed and opened it.

Griffin. Wearing his full service dress blues.

Wow, wow, and triple wow. It was the first time she’d ever seen him in a formal uniform, and man, did he clean up well. The double-breasted black blazer was perfectly tailored to his broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped physique. She couldn’t help but stare at the gold trident pin prominent above a ridiculously impressive rack of ribbons.

“To what do I owe the honor?” she murmured, cautious of what the uniform might signify or that he might not be alone.

“May I come in?”

“Of course.” She stepped back. He passed her by, and she shut the door behind him. He turned and swept her up in his arms in a tight hug, fraught with…something.

“Everything okay?” she murmured.

He lifted his head from where he’d buried it against her neck. The expression in his eyes was bleak. Oh, crap. Was he here to wash her out? Had she failed before she’d even made it to BUD/S?

“I have a favor to ask of you,” he said heavily.

“Anything.” Goodness knew, she owed him huge for all he’d done for her. She was just now coming to understand how amazingly well he’d prepared her for BUD/S.

“Sam’s funeral is today. Since you happen to have the day off, I was wondering if you would go with me.”

“Oh,” she said softly. “I’d be honored to go with you. But if the press is there, and anyone spots me, it’ll turn into a circus.”