Chapter 5: The Knock That Changes Everything
The knock came at 11:47.
Riley's hand froze halfway to her beer. The bottle hung in the air, condensation dripping onto her knuckles, as her eyes cut to the door. Three sharp raps. Not a neighbor asking for sugar. Not a drunk Marine who'd gotten the wrong apartment number.
She set the bottle down on the floor beside the couch. Stood. The PT shorts she'd been wearing since chow hung loose on her hips, and her tank top was stained with sweat from a late run she'd taken just to burn off the restless energy that had been chewing at her all day.
Three days since the diner. Three days of staring at her phone, thumb hovering over Kenzie's name. Three days of drafting texts and deleting them. Three days of trying to convince herself that "one step at a time" didn't mean standing still.
She crossed the room in four strides. Checked the peephole.
Blonde hair. Navy blue polo. Eyes that looked like they'd been crying for hours.
Riley unlocked the door and pulled it open.
Kenzie stood in the hallway, still in her uniform, but the ponytail was gone. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders, tangled and damp like she'd been running her hands through it. Her duty belt was still strapped around her waist, radio and cuffs and the weight of a whole shift pressing down on her hips. She looked exhausted. Wrecked. Like she'd been driving around for hours with nowhere to go.
Her eyes were red-rimmed.
In her hands, she clutched a folded piece of paper.
"Hey," Riley said.
Kenzie opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
"I couldn't sleep," she said. Her voice was raw, scraped thin. "I tried. I laid in bed for two hours and stared at the ceiling and I just—" She stopped. Swallowed. "I drove around. For an hour. Just circles. Around the base. Around town. Past the old high school. Past my parents' house."
Riley leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. Waiting.
"And then my car just—" Kenzie gestured vaguely. "It ended up here. I don't even remember deciding to come. I just looked up and I was in your parking lot."
The hallway light flickered. Somewhere down the corridor, a door slammed.
"You want to come in?" Riley asked.
Kenzie nodded. Didn't speak.
Riley stepped aside.
Kenzie walked past her, and Riley caught the scent of her—sweat and coffee and something floral underneath, shampoo or lotion or both. She smelled like the end of a long day. Like exhaustion and adrenaline and something fragile.
The door clicked shut.
Kenzie stood in the middle of the apartment, looking around. At the bare walls. The military-issue furniture. The USMC flag pinned over the cracked mirror. The framed photo on the desk—her dad in full dress blues, jaw set, eyes proud.
"You still have it," Kenzie said.
"What?"
"The photo. Of your dad."
Riley didn't answer. She walked past Kenzie, grabbed her beer off the floor, and took a long pull. The liquid was warm now, flat. She didn't care.
"You want one?"
"No." Kenzie shook her head. "I can't. I'm still on duty. Technically."
"Technically."
"I should have gone home. I should have gone to bed. I should have—"
"Kenzie." Riley's voice cut through the spiral. "You're here. Just say what you came to say."
Kenzie's jaw tightened. Her fingers curled around the folded paper in her hands, crumpling the edges.
"I wrote something," she said. "In the car. I was going to leave it on your door. Like a coward."
"But you didn't."
"No." She laughed, hollow. "I got as far as the parking lot. Sat there for ten minutes. Then I just—" She shook her head. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't drive away again."
Riley set the beer down. Crossed her arms.
"So say it."
Kenzie looked at her. Really looked at her. Her eyes were bright, wet, reflecting the dim light from the single lamp in the corner.
"I've been living a half-life," she said. "For nine years. I wake up, I go to work, I come home. I go to church. I smile at the right people. I say the right things. I do everything I'm supposed to do."
She paused. Her voice cracked.
"And I'm so fucking empty, Riley. I'm so empty I can barely breathe."
Riley didn't move. Didn't speak.
"The bathroom," Kenzie continued. "At the bar. What we did. I told myself it was a mistake. I told myself I was drunk and stupid and it didn't mean anything."
She took a step forward.
"But it wasn't a mistake. It was the only honest thing I've done in a decade. The only time I've felt like myself. The only time I've felt like I wasn't pretending."
Another step. Closer now. Close enough that Riley could see the tears spilling down her cheeks, tracking through the faint smudge of mascara she hadn't washed off.
"I've spent my whole life trying to pray it away. Trying to be normal. Trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be. And I can't do it anymore. I can't."
Her voice broke on the last word.
The paper in her hands fluttered to the floor.
Riley's chest tightened. Her throat burned. She'd been holding onto her anger for so long—nine years of it, buried deep, hard and sharp like shrapnel. She'd told herself she'd never let Kenzie close again. She'd told herself she didn't care.
But Kenzie was standing in her apartment, crying, looking at her like she was the only solid thing in a world that had been spinning off its axis for years.
And Riley couldn't keep the walls up anymore.
She moved.
One step. Two. Her hands came up, cupping Kenzie's face. Thumbs brushing the tears away. Kenzie's breath hitched, her eyes wide and terrified and hopeful all at once.
"You're not broken," Riley said. Her voice was low. Rough. "You were never broken."
Kenzie's hands grabbed her wrists. Not pulling away. Holding on.
"You don't know that."
"I know you spent nine years trying to fix something that was never broken to begin with."
Kenzie let out a sob. It came out ragged, torn from somewhere deep in her chest.
Riley pulled her closer.
Their foreheads pressed together. Kenzie's breath was hot against her lips, uneven and shaky.
Then Kenzie kissed her.
It wasn't gentle. It wasn't careful. It was desperate and hungry and messy, teeth clashing, tongues sliding together wet and frantic. Kenzie's hands fisted in Riley's tank top, pulling her closer like she was afraid she'd disappear.
Riley's hands slid into Kenzie's hair. Grip tight. Pulling. Kenzie moaned against her mouth, and the sound shot straight through Riley's spine like a current.
They stumbled backward. Kenzie's duty belt clattered to the floor, radio cracking against the linoleum. Neither of them cared.
Riley's back hit the edge of the desk. The framed photo of her dad wobbled, nearly tipped, and Riley caught it with one hand, setting it down carefully. Even now. Even like this.
Kenzie pulled back, breathing hard. Her eyes were dark, pupils blown wide.
"Where's your bed?"
Riley pointed.
They made it three steps before they were kissing again. Kenzie's hands were on Riley's waist, sliding up under her tank top, nails scraping across the muscle of her stomach. Riley hissed through her teeth.
"Fuck," she breathed.
Kenzie's mouth found her neck. Teeth and tongue and hot breath. Riley's head fell back, eyes fluttering shut.
They tumbled onto the bed. The frame creaked. Riley's elbow cracked against the wall, and she didn't care.
Kenzie was on top of her, straddling her hips. The navy blue polo was still on, but it was untucked now, riding up to expose a strip of pale skin. Riley's hands found the hem, yanked it up and over Kenzie's head.
Underneath, a plain black sports bra. Practical. Functional. Not the delicate lace from the bar.
Riley didn't care. She thought Kenzie looked better like this. Real. Unpolished. Hers.
"Off," Riley said.
Kenzie reached back, unclasped the bra, and let it fall.
Riley's breath caught.
She'd seen Kenzie naked before. In the bathroom. In the dark. Quick and furtive and desperate. But here, in the dim light of her apartment, with nowhere to hide, it was different.
Kenzie's skin was flushed. Her chest heaved. Small, perfect breasts with pink nipples already hard, porcelain skin scattered with faint freckles across her collarbones. Riley reached up, cupped one, thumb dragging across the nipple.
Kenzie shuddered. "Shit."
Riley smiled. Small, sharp.
She sat up. Rolled them over. Kenzie's back hit the mattress, hair fanning out on the pillow. She looked up at Riley with wide eyes, chest rising and falling fast.
"You sure?" Riley asked.
"I've never been more sure of anything."
Riley leaned down. Kissed her slow. Deep. Letting her tongue slide against Kenzie's, letting her taste the salt of tears and coffee and something sweet underneath.
Then she moved lower.
Kissed along Kenzie's jaw. Down her neck. Across her collarbone. Took a nipple in her mouth, sucked hard, and Kenzie arched off the bed with a cry, fingers tangling in Riley's short hair.
"Fuck, Riley—"
Riley didn't stop. She licked and bit and sucked, working Kenzie's nipple until it was red and swollen, then switched to the other. Kenzie writhed beneath her, hips rolling, thighs squeezing together.
"Please," Kenzie gasped. "Please, I need—"
Riley pulled back. Looked up at her.
"Need what?"
"You know what."
"Say it."
Kenzie's cheeks flushed. She turned her face away.
"I want to hear you say it."
"I want you to touch me." Kenzie's voice was barely a whisper. "I want your mouth on me. I want you to make me come."
Riley's blood ran hot.
She hooked her fingers into the waistband of Kenzie's tactical pants. The belt was gone, but the pants were still buttoned, still zipped. She undid them slow, dragging the zipper down tooth by tooth. Kenzie bit her lip, watching.
Riley tugged the pants down. Navy blue fabric pooled around Kenzie's ankles. Then the plain black boyshorts underneath, damp at the crotch, a dark stain spreading outward.
Riley pulled those down too.
Kenzie was bare. Legs spread. Cunt glistening in the dim light, pink and swollen and wet. Riley's mouth watered.
She didn't waste time.
She lowered her head and dragged her tongue through Kenzie's folds.
Kenzie screamed. Not loud—the walls were thin—but a raw, broken sound that went straight to Riley's core. Her hips bucked. Her thighs clamped around Riley's head.
Riley grabbed her thighs and pushed them open, pinning them down. Then she went to work.
Long, slow licks. Up and down. Circling Kenzie's clit with the tip of her tongue, then dipping lower to taste the wetness pooling at her entrance. Kenzie tasted like salt and musk and something sweet, and Riley couldn't get enough.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck—" Kenzie's hands fisted in the sheets. Her head thrashed from side to side. "Riley, please, don't stop, don't you dare fucking stop—"
Riley didn't stop.
She sucked Kenzie's clit into her mouth. Licked it. Flicked it with her tongue until Kenzie was shaking, sobbing, heels digging into the mattress.
"Please," Kenzie begged. "Please, I'm so close, I'm so—"
Riley slid two fingers inside her.
Kenzie's whole body arched off the bed. A guttural moan tore from her throat, and her cunt clenched around Riley's fingers, tight and hot and wet.
Riley pumped her hand. Slow at first, then faster. Crooking her fingers, hitting that spot deep inside that made Kenzie see stars. Her mouth never left Kenzie's clit.
Kenzie came with a scream.
Her body convulsed. Her cunt clamped down on Riley's fingers, pulsing in waves. Her hands flew to Riley's head, holding her in place, grinding against her mouth like she couldn't get enough.
Riley rode her through it. Lapped up every drop. Kept going until Kenzie's thighs trembled and her hands fell away and she lay there gasping, chest heaving, tears streaming down her face.
Riley pulled back. Wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Kenzie looked at her. Eyes glassy. Lips parted.
"That was—" She couldn't finish.
"Yeah," Riley said.
Kenzie reached for her. Pulled her up. Kissed her, deep and messy, like she wanted to taste herself on Riley's lips.
Then her hands found Riley's PT shorts.
"My turn."
Riley's breath caught.
Kenzie flipped her onto her back. Straddled her. Her legs were still shaking, but her hands were steady as she tugged Riley's shorts down, then her boxers.
Riley was already wet. Soaked, actually. She'd been wet since the first knock on the door.
Kenzie looked down at her. At the dark hair between her legs, the slick of wetness on her thighs, the way her cunt was practically pulsing with need.
"Fuck," Kenzie breathed. "You're gorgeous."
Then she lowered her head.
Riley's back arched. A groan ripped from her throat as Kenzie's tongue found her clit, hot and wet and eager.
Kenzie was clumsy. Inexperienced. But she made up for it with enthusiasm, licking and sucking and moaning against Riley's cunt like she couldn't get enough.
"Fuck, Kenzie—" Riley grabbed her hair, not to pull her away but to hold her there. "Right there. Don't stop."
Kenzie didn't stop.
She slid a finger inside Riley. Then two. Pumping slow, curling up, finding that spot that made Riley's vision go white.
It didn't take long.
Riley came with a strangled cry, hips bucking, cunt clenching around Kenzie's fingers. The orgasm rolled through her like a wave, crashing and receding and leaving her trembling in its wake.
Kenzie pulled back. Licked her lips. Smiled.
"Was that okay?"
Riley laughed. Breathless. Raw.
"Get up here."
Kenzie crawled up her body. Collapsed beside her, head on Riley's shoulder. Their skin was slick with sweat. The sheets were a tangled mess. Riley's heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat.
They lay there in silence. Breathing. Existing.
The apartment was quiet. Just the hum of the refrigerator and the distant sound of a car passing outside.
Kenzie's hand found Riley's. Interlaced their fingers.
"I'm terrified," Kenzie whispered.
Riley turned her head. Looked at her. Kenzie's eyes were still wet, but there was something else there now. Something steadier.
"Me too," Riley said.
"But I'm done running."
Riley squeezed her hand.
"Good."
Kenzie closed her eyes. Her breath evened out. Riley watched her drift, watched the tension drain from her face, watched her fall asleep in a bed that wasn't hers in an apartment that smelled like gun oil and stale beer.
Riley didn't sleep.
She lay there, staring at the ceiling, Kenzie's hand still in hers, and thought about her dad. About the photo on the desk. About what he'd say if he could see her now.
He'd probably just smile. Say something about how it was about damn time.
She closed her eyes.
Outside, the rain started again. Soft at first, then harder, drumming against the window.
Riley held on.