by Jaxon Knight
New Year’s Eve
A Fairyland Story
Jaxon Knight
Grey Kelpie Studio
Copyright © 2019 Grey Kelpie Studio
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Cover by Anna Graham
Printed in United States of America
Published by Grey Kelpie Studio
1 December 31st: Eight pm
On New Year’s Eve Max emerged from the bathroom in his apartment. He’d been in there ‘preparing’ for the big party for the last hour and a half.
Charlie had been scrolling through recipes on the Pinterest app while he waited, seated on the large, comfortable bed - the mattress was one of those ones off the shopping network which cost thousands of dollars - and trying not to be impatient.
He almost dropped his phone when Max stepped out in black ankle boots with heels, fishnets, red sequinned booty shorts and a sinful amount of eyeliner.
No shirt. Just sculpted abs and biceps and the gorgeous way his waist nipped in.
Charlie’s mouth went dry and his eyes went wide.
Max was so damn beautiful.
And he knew how to accentuate all his best features.
In his head, sometimes Charlie just thought of Max as Max, his goofy, adoring boyfriend. But then he’d do something like this, and Charlie would be reminded that actually, Max was a sex god, and he was rightfully famous for it, and there were social media accounts dedicated to posting pictures of him every day which got dozens of thirsty comments.
“What are you wearing?” Charlie breathed.
“What?” Max smirked and walked a little closer to him, did a little catwalk model spin, and Charlie’s eyes were drawn exclusively to his sequined ass.
“You look incredible,” Charlie said. His voice was a little strained.
“I do, don’t I?” Max grinned and did another twirl, then struck a pose with a hand on his hip and an exaggerated pout. “So, what’re you wearing?”
“Me?” Charlie glanced down at himself. His favorite Decemberists T-shirt and his skinniest black jeans had seemed fancy enough to him, at least, until Max had come out of the bathroom. “This?”
“You can’t go like that,” Max said. He went to his walk-in wardrobe and rummaged through the hangers.
Charlie’s stomach sank. He had no idea what Max was about to offer him, but he had the distinct sensation it would be out of his comfort zone. Again.
Which, you know, it was fine. Out of the comfort zone was every second day with Max, and Charlie was liking the new experiences and the way it forced him to grow and learn. The discomfort was absolutely worth it because Max could be a ridiculous pain in the ass, but he was also a sweetheart, kind and sincere and Charlie just wanted to squeeze him every time he thought about it.
And he wanted tonight to be special so he could remember every second of it, so he could know that Max was happy when he asked him what he planned to ask him.
He loved Max. There was no way around it. And if loving Max meant wearing something out of his wardrobe to a fancy New Year’s Eve party then Charlie would do it.
That is… That’s what he’d been thinking until Max brought out a mesh shirt on a hanger.
“Here, you can wear this one.”
“It’s mesh.”
“I knew you wouldn’t want to be shirtless.”
“I can’t wear that!” Charlie’s hand went up to cover his chest as if he were already naked.
Max rolled his eyes. “Charlie, it’s New Year’s Eve,” he said. As if this somehow explained everything about asking his boyfriend to wear something which just accentuated nakedness.
“I’m aware of what night it is,” Charlie said, stalling. “But I can’t. That shirt? It’s completely see-through.”
“Yes, which is why it’s hot. You’ll look hot in it.” He jiggled the clothes hanger at Charlie and raised his eyebrows.
“I won’t,” Charlie said. “I don’t have your waistline.”
“You are underselling yourself and your innate gingery hotness.” Max tossed the shirt on the bed behind Charlie and climbed into his lap.
Charlie lost the ability to breathe.
Up close, Max-with-eyeliner was actually breathtaking. His eyes seemed twice as large and the blue of his irises popped, and he looked like he was about to start singing a Korean pop song. Charlie leaned in to kiss him without thinking.
Also, the skimpiness of the shorts and the fact his boyfriend was just right there, in his lap, practically naked? It was doing things to him.
He put his arms around him and pulled him flush against his chest.
Max returned the kiss with a pleased noise, the kind of happy surprise that he had somehow retained even though they’d been dating for weeks now.
Like he couldn’t believe his luck.
Charlie couldn’t believe his luck either. Max was a constant surprise and one which delighted him every time.
I want to wake up with him every day. I want to go to sleep with him every night.
Finally, he stopped exploring Max’s mouth with his tongue and sucked in a breath, pulling back enough to speak to him.
“Maybe we should just stay in.” Charlie murmured against the ridge of Max’s jaw.
Max pulled away, leaning back in Charlie’s arms to give him a proper incensed look. “We cannot stay in! It’s New Year’s Eve.”
“Okay, but,” Charlie stroked a hand up the bare curve of Max’s spine. “You’re in my lap in tiny shorts and you have eyeliner on and it’s giving me ideas.”
Max moaned softly, but cut it off with a sharp bite to Charlie’s lip. “You’re bad.” He squirmed off Charlie’s lap and put his hands on his hips. “You just don’t want to go out wearing something sexy.”
“I…” Charlie swallowed. “Mesh is too much for me. It’s like… it’s going to show just how unsexy I am. I’m too pale and soft, I don’t have your abs.” He reached out to touch the abs but Max danced away.
“One, you are entirely sexy. Two, you are not going to distract me with sex. And three, the fact you know you can distract me with sex means you know how sexy you are. So, put on the mesh shirt and I’ll find you a leather jacket.”
He turned towards the wardrobe again, heading for the jacket section this time.
“Oh my God, did you just logic me into wearing a mesh shirt?” Charlie looked over at the mesh and twisted his hands together. “I don’t think I can do it. My nipples would be out. I’ve never gone out with my nipples showing.”
“I love your nipples,” Max said. “And it’s New Year’s Eve, people expect nipples.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a New Years Eve, if that’s what you think people expect.”
“Come on, just try it, please?” Max came back with something over his shoulder. He tugged at Charlie’s T-shirt with his other hand “For me?”
He pouted his lips, made his eyes wide and tipped his chin down.
Charlie relented.
I really need to get some kind of resistance to the puppy-dog eyes. Maybe there’s a vaccination or something… especially if I’m going to ask him to…
“Yeah, all right,” Charlie said. “I’ll try it but I’m not promising anything.”
Max helped him out of his shirt and into the mesh one, which was probably for the best because Charlie wasn’t sure he could get it on without tearing it.
Finally, he was pulling it into place over his torso and Ma
x clapped his hands, bouncing on his heels. “Gorgeous! Better than I imagined.”
Charlie looked at himself in the mirror, unconvinced. He turned one way and then the other. The mesh fabric seemed to shimmer, and it did something to him - it didn’t look good exactly, but it didn’t look as bad as he’d expected.
“Arms,” Max said. He was holding a leather jacket out, and Charlie stuck his hands in the sleeves so Max could help him into it. Once the jacket was settled on his shoulders, Charlie felt a lot more comfortable. It mostly hid his nipples, and it changed the look from ‘mostly naked’ to ‘mostly clothed’.
The jacket had a ridiculous number of straps and buckles and was a buttery soft black leather. Charlie liked the weight of it on him.
He nodded and sighed out through his nose. “Fine. It’s okay with the jacket.”
“Yay!” Max kissed his cheek and slipped his hands in under the jacket, his fingers teasing at Charlie’s waist and making him want to insist on staying in again, but he knew it was a losing battle.
“Someday,” he said. “You’re not going to get exactly what you want, and it’s going to be such a drama.”
“You’d better just keep on giving me what I want then.” Max bounced up on the toes of his heeled boots and kissed Charlie on the lips before doing a happy little booty shake dance and making Charlie laugh indulgently. He had no idea how he’d ended up with this ridiculous, gorgeous and frankly entitled man, but he thanked the stars for it. He wouldn’t change Max for the world, and every minute he spent with him was amazing.
He took a selfie in the mirror of his outfit, complete with Max draping himself over his shoulders and sent it to Nate.
C: Happy New Years, I guess?
Nate replied with a heart eyes emoji.
N: OMG what is that shirt? Max is such a bad influence on you, in the best way
N: you two look smoking! Have fun, we’re stuck in tonight
He sent a photo back of himself and Dash bundled in blankets on the couch, a box of tissues between them, and both with red noses and puffy eyes. Dash’s hand was half raised to block his face from the camera.
C: Nate. Go to bed and sleep if you’re sick
N: Dash wants to see the ball drop, but I think we’re going to pass out before then
N: Have a great night!
“Awww, the poor things,” Max said. He’d been reading over Charlie’s shoulder, which he could apparently do when he was wearing heels. “We’ll just have to party extra hard for them.”
Charlie pocketed his phone and tried not to wince at the thought of partying extra hard.
“Okay, so where are we going exactly?”
“The twins are in…” Max paused to check his phone. “The Green Man private room, so if we’re quick we can get there.”
“You know, I never really go to clubs,” Charlie said.
“I’ll make it worth your while, and trust me, you’re going to have fun. If you don’t have fun, then I’ll do whatever you want tomorrow. Anything you like.” Max winked at him and Charlie was suddenly a lot warmer and considered shrugging off the leather jacket. Except then he'd only be wearing a mesh shirt and that was so not about to happen.
“Okay, but that’s actually a motivation for me to not have fun tonight.”
“Fine.” Max put an arm around Charlie’s neck and kissed him softly before murmuring against his lips. “Whether you have fun or not, tomorrow I’ll do whatever you want. Deal?”
Charlie kissed him back, tingles zipping up his spine and on every part of his body where Max was touching him. “Deal.”
2 Nine pm
An hour later, they were a few drinks in at the Green Man and Charlie wasn’t sure what he’d been so worried about.
What had I even been worrying about? No one here cares about nipples! Or rather, they do a lot, but not like, enough for it to be a thing that mine are out.
Blaze had been plying Charlie with an aggressively fluorescently colored series of shots called Green Fairies which tasted surprisingly delicious.
Charlie had lost count of how many after four.
“This music stinks,” Blaze said, leaning forward over the table and shaking his head. “We need to go somewhere with better music.”
As far as Charlie could tell the same song had been playing since they’d arrived – one hour long poppy song with a lot of bass for people to dance to.
“Like where?” Max asked, half shouting to be heard.
“Thirty Seven maybe?” Blaze said.
Coco pursed her lips and shrugged. She pulled out her phone and scanned Instagram. “Yeah, Thirty Seven will be all right, looks like they have a live band.”
One of the benefits of dating Max (and of course, there were many) was that you never had to worry about sober driving. Clive would do it, or if he went home, Max could easily afford a taxi, so Charlie didn’t have to worry about how many of the Green Fairies he had downed as they fled the club to go to the next one.
His head buzzed pleasantly, and he sent some more selfies to Nate from outside Thirty Seven.
3 Ten pm
“Karaoke!” Max shouted. Coco’s eyes went wide, and she beamed, her white even teeth flashing under the multi-colored lights of Thirty Seven, a club which Charlie kind of liked for the décor. It was made to look sort of like an old fashioned Opium Den – although what that had to do with the name Thirty Seven he had no idea.
The band weren’t half bad either – they were doing covers of music from the early Two-thousands and Charlie had been tapping his fingers on the low table they were ensconced in, watching the dancers.
“I know the perfect place!”
“I don’t know about singing…” Charlie said. Blaze grabbed his hand and tugged him to his feet.
“C’mon, Charlie, don’t get shy now,” Blaze said. Charlie grabbed Max’s hand, Max took Coco’s hand and they wound their way through the drinking, dancing crowds in the club to the sidewalk like some drunken, overdressed folk dancers.
For New Year’s Eve, Clive was driving a full stretch limousine so they could all sit together. It was roomy inside with a mini-bar and a big bucket of bottles of ice water.
Once they were in the car, Charlie chugged a bottle of water and handed another to Max. He took it with an eye-roll and downed half of it before screwing the top back up.
“What’re you going to sing?” Coco asked, poking Charlie in the knee with one finger.
“Oh, I don’t think I’m going to sing,” Charlie said. “I don’t really sing.”
“Uh, you do!” Max flopped down onto Charlie’s lap and grinned up at him. “You sang for me. At Fairyland.”
“I actually forgot I’d done that…” Charlie said. He smiled down at Max and played with his hair with one hand. “You’re so cute.”
“Careful of the do,” Max said, batting at Charlie’s hand like a kitten might at a piece of string.
Charlie suppressed a squee of delight at how ridiculously adorable his boyfriend was.
“So, what song was that again?” Blaze asked.
“I can’t do the same song again,” Charlie said. He tore his eyes off Max’s face and looked at Blaze. “Something new. What do you guys sing at Karaoke?”
“I’m big on the diva classics,” Coco said. “Aretha, Whitney, Beyoncé, you know. The belters, bring the house down stuff.”
Charlie nodded, he could just see Coco with her hand in the air, belting out a power note while everyone danced. She was that kind of flawless.
He looked at Blaze. “What about you?”
“Classic rap, nothing else, nothing after 1995,” Blaze said without looking up from his phone, which he was typing on intently. “It’s an image thing, gotta keep it real.”
“Sure,” Charlie said. He looked back at Max, who was playing his fingers over the mesh on Charlie’s chest, awakening all sorts of desires. “And the prom king himself?” he took hold of Max’s hand and kissed his fingertips. “What do you sing at karaoke?”
“Psychic powers. Tell me what you’re singing.”
“No, if you’re psychic then you should already know.”
“Tease,” Charlie said.
“You know it.” Max sat up abruptly, kissed Charlie on the cheek and settled in beside him instead, opening a packet of potato chips and stuffing them in his mouth.
4 Ten fifteen pm
The karaoke bar was packed with revelers, and apparently between Coco, Blaze and Max, they knew everyone who was there. There were so many people waving and calling out their names and tugging them in for one armed hugs and air kisses over their cheeks. Charlie swallowed a left out feeling and looked around as they pushed through the dancers.
The stage was occupied by three girls absolutely slaughtering Stop by the Spice Girls.
Blaze made a beeline for the bar, Coco found a table which became theirs once she offered the people occupying it free drinks to move.
Max tugged Charlie to the booth where you could request a song and put in his name and a song title Charlie couldn’t hear.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said, pushing Charlie to the front.
There was a tablet there, and you typed your name in and song selection. Charlie tried to think of a song, any song he knew the words to. Frozen for a moment, he couldn’t think of a single song, it was as if he’d never heard music in his life.
“Come on, Charlie,” Max said, tugging on his sleeve. “I think Blaze has got us hot wings.”
Inspiration struck and Charlie tapped out the name of a song. “Right, good, I’m ready,” he said. Max tugged him to the table Coco had secured for them, pushed him into the booth and sat on his lap.
It took some time for their song choices to come up and Charlie felt anxious. He didn’t want to do it, but he hated the waiting at the same time.
