Sometimes it sucked having teammates who were so blasted perceptive. At least Trevor had cracked thirty years of age and achieved a modicum of wisdom in a decade of special operations for Great Britain. Griffin muttered for Trevor’s ears alone, “These women. They’re knocking me off my game.”

“No kidding. I never thought I’d see the day when women could meet Special Forces standards. But here we are.”

“What do you think of it?” Griffin asked him. “Would female operators fly in Europe?”

Trevor’s intelligent gaze was troubled. “I honestly don’t know. Politically, Europe is pretty liberal. But women in hard-core combat? That’s a stretch. I’m going to take a wait-and-see attitude.”

A smart approach. Too bad he, as the platoon leader, didn’t have that luxury.

Trevor added, “If you want to talk it over or just vent, I won’t carry any tales back to Kettering. I’ve got your back.”

“Thanks, brother.”

Trevor met his gaze candidly. His eyes telegraphed that times were changing around them both, and he, too, understood the stakes. Adapt or get out.

“Yeah. That.” Griffin sighed in response to his teammate’s silent message.

Axel declared loudly from across the room, “Never thought I’d see chicks do stuff like that. Did you see Lily banging out those pull-ups? Hell, she can do more than I can!”

Trevor laughed. “Yes, but you’re a giant lump of meat. She’s a tiny little thing with no weight to move.”

Axel grunted. “I didn’t see you beating Anna at push-ups. How many did she do? Six hundred, all told?”

Trev shrugged. “Something like that.”

Griffin eyed the Brit closely. Trevor looked about evenly split between dismay and being wildly impressed by Anna’s mad skills.

Kenny passed the Brit another beer. “You need this, bro. That Anna girl is totally into you.”

Griffin was interested to see a certain desperation flash across Trev’s face. Was the guy panicked at being pursued? Or maybe panicked at what he might do about being pursued? A person never could tell with those Brits. They held their emotions close to the vest. Either way, Griffin felt Trev’s pain. What was a guy supposed to do when completely attracted to one’s female future teammate?

Sam, usually slow to speak, weighed in. “Didn’t think I’d ever see women that strong or that fast. I’m thinking these ladies may just have what it takes to make the teams.”

“It takes more than strength or speed,” Griffin snapped. “It takes courage. Smarts. Guts. Aggression. It takes… Hell, I don’t know what it takes. More. It takes more.”

Trevor replied thoughtfully, “Who’s to say women—not all women, but some women—don’t have that ‘more’ factor?”

“Have you ever met a woman who made you think, ‘Damn, she’d make a great SEAL’?” Griffin snapped back.