I Joined My Dead Sister's Curling Team, and Her Widower Joined Me novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Candles and Soap

Leif lit the last candle on the edge of the sink, and Dale lowered me into the water.

The claw-foot tub in Gunnar's bathroom was deep and white, and it held all of us if nobody minded elbows.

Gunnar had run the bath himself before we left for the banquet.

He had reheated it twice from the kettle on the stove.

Now it steamed in the candlelight, and the air smelled of pine soap and hot cedar.

I sank down to my chin with a groan.

My green dress lay in a puddle on the tile where four men had taken it off me.

"Oh," I said.

"Oh, that's perfect."

"Don't move," Nils said.

He knelt on the bath mat at the head of the tub and gathered my hair in his huge hands.

He wet it with a cup, slowly, and worked in the shampoo with his fingertips.

I closed my eyes and leaned back into his hands.

Leif sat on the closed lid of the toilet and took my right foot out of the water.

He kneaded the arch with his thumbs.

"Eighty-six people," he said.

"I counted. The club president wept."

"The club president weeps at his own jokes," Gunnar said.

He sat on the rim of the tub, and his big hand slid down my shoulder and over my collarbone with a washcloth.

He washed me slowly and carefully.

Dale stood at the foot of the tub with his sleeves rolled to the elbow.

He lifted my left foot and kissed my ankle.

"You were magnificent," he said.

"You were," Gunnar said.

"You were the bravest thing I've ever seen."

"I was terrified," I said.

"I know," said Dale.

"That is what brave is."

Warm water ran over my shoulders from Nils's cup.

My whole body unwound.

For the first time since the funeral, since I was nine years old and sent to the pantry to cry, nothing was waiting for me.

I opened my eyes.

"I want to take my time," I said.

"Tonight. All of you. Slowly."

"Whatever you want," Gunnar said.

"Get in," I said.

He took off his shirt and his trousers, and he stepped over the rim.

Water slopped onto the floor.

He sat down behind me at the faucet end with his legs on either side.

His arms came around my waist, and I leaned back against his chest.

His cock pressed hard against the small of my back.

I smiled, and wriggled.

"Be careful," he said, into my ear.

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