Lily woke up early Thanksgiving morning to put the turkey on to cook. The factory had been closed all week to give everyone a chance to go home for the holidays. She had spent those days with Rachel, preparing to open the church store on Friday. They would take turns working in the store until Pastor Dean found someone to work full time.
Lily hummed to herself as she moved around the kitchen. She had volunteered to help cook the dinner, but Beth would come over when she woke to help. Pouring herself a cup of coffee, she blew on it as she walked across the kitchen to sit at the table.
Bliss came into the kitchen wearing a t-shirt that barely came to the top of her thighs and her short, spiked hair was messed. She was halfway across the kitchen before she realized it wasn’t empty.
“I didn’t know you were down yet. I was just getting a drink.”
“I woke up early to put the turkey on,” Lily explained uncomfortably.
Bliss went to the fridge, taking two bottled waters. Lily expected her to leave; instead she came to the table and took a seat in front of Lily.
“I want to apologize.”
“For what?” Lily asked.
Bliss bit her lip. “For flirting with Shade in front of you. I know you caught me a couple of times; I wanted you to.”
“Why?” Lily lowered her eyes, not wanting the woman to see she had succeeded in hurting her.
“Because I was having Shade withdrawal,” Bliss admitted regretfully. “Truthfully, I was hoping you’d get mad enough to leave and everything would go back to normal.”
“With you and Shade back together again?”
“Yes, but not like you’re thinking. All of us enjoy having sex with each other. When Razer, Viper and then Knox quit fucking us, it didn’t bother me. To be blunt, there’s plenty of dicks around here to scratch an itch if a girl gets one. The thing is, Shade scratches a particular itch of mine that none of the others do.”
Lily sat there listening quietly to Bliss discuss her and Shade’s sex life. Her stomach churned, however she couldn’t bring herself to say or do anything to hurt Bliss’s feelings.
“I even acted out with Razer, hoping Shade would… but he didn’t.” Bliss paused. “I was wrong, and I apologized to Beth and Razer. We’re cool now. Beth understood and I hope you do, too.”
Lily smiled at her. “Of course. I didn’t mean to come between you and Shade’s… um…” She didn’t know how to continue.
Bliss smiled. “You can say I’m a submissive. It doesn’t bother me. Lily, you do know that Shade isn’t your typical man, don’t you?”
Lily turned bright red, almost knocking her coffee cup over. “Typical is not a word I would use to describe Shade.”
“No, he’s not,” Bliss sighed then caught herself, giving Lily a rueful smile. Standing up from the table, she picked up her water bottles.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead.” Bliss paused, waiting for it.
“What made you change your mind about trying to break me and Shade up?”
“The night of the Halloween party. I’m not going to lie and say I won’t miss Shade, but I can say that I don’t mind so much if it’s you.”
Lily had to clear her throat. “Thanks, Bliss.”
She left Lily sitting alone in the kitchen, not knowing exactly how to feel about herself and Shade. The kitchen door opened again and Beth came in, still half-asleep.
“Tell me why we volunteered for this again.”
“Because we enjoy cooking for the holidays,” Lily suggested.
“That’s true.” Beth yawned as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
“And because we’re nuts.”
“I won’t disagree with that, either.”
After they both finished their coffee, they began cooking all the dishes that the members had requested. It was a massive task, but Evie soon showed up to pitch in and the morning passed quickly.
Lily had set the turkey on the serving platter when Pastor Dean walked into the kitchen with Viper.
“The smell of turkey and stuffing… ask and the Lord shall provide,” Pastor Dean said, gazing down at the turkey in admiration.
When Beth teased him that he could eat the twenty-pound bird by himself, the pastor replied, “I don’t know about that, but I hope one of those legs has my name on it.”
Evie picked the turkey up. “You can take that up with the other men. The Lord only gave this turkey two legs.”
Lily picked up a casserole, carrying it out to the dining room where Ember and Stori had decorated the table and all the members who had stayed were already seated. Lily took a chair at the opposite end of where Pastor Dean took his.
Lily sat quietly eating her dinner, not joining the conversation around her unless someone spoke directly to her. After dinner, the desserts were fought over as much as the turkey and stuffing had been. Lily ate a small portion and then began carrying the dirty plates into the kitchen. Shade followed her into the kitchen, packing another stack of dishes.
“You were quiet at dinner.”
“Just tired, I guess. It’s been a long day,” Lily said quietly.
Shade leaned against the counter, watching her face carefully. “Bliss said she had a talk with you this morning. Did something she said upset you?”
“No, we’re fine,” Lily replied as she loaded the dishwasher.