Christmas Presence

"I can't believe I'm thirty-eight and single." I down the rest of the glass of whiskey in my hand, grimacing as it burns all the way my gullet.

"What? What happened to what's his face..." my best friend clicks his fingers as he tries to recall the name, "Justin! What happened to Justin? I thought you were all in love and shit."

I knock back the remainder of Oscar's whiskey too, shuddering slightly as it once again burns all the way down to my stomach.

"He likes fairies."

"What?" Oscar snorts out a laugh. "What do mean he likes fairies? He was gay?"

"No no no!" I shake my head vehemently. "On top of the Christmas tree," I clarify, "he likes fairies instead of stars."

Oscar fixes me with one of his patented cut the shit stares. "You broke up with him over what decoration he wants to put onto of his damn tree. Really?"

"Well...not only that..." I trail off as he gives me a look of disbelief.

"Kristan, you know I love you but you need to stop finding problems with your boyfriends like this. I mean, Justin was a great guy. He treated you well. You guys had fun together-"

I shake my head, cutting him off. "We had fun initially. But fundamentally we wanted completely different things."

"Different things...on top of your Christmas trees." He cocks his eyebrow, and we both start laughing.

"Ossi?" A deep voice cuts through our hysteria. "Oscar Williams? Is that really you?"

"Dan?" Oscar stands and embraces the extremely handsome dark stranger, slapping his back like guys do. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in London."

"Yeah, no. I mean I am but I'm just back for the holidays."

I clear my throat and Oscar turns to me, large grin on his face.

"Sorry! Dan, you remember my friend Kristan Champion? Kris, this is Daniel Harper, my old friend from boarding school."

"Pleasure." Daniel gives me a half smile, stepping forward and lifting my hand to his lips.

"Boarding school, huh? Soggy biscuits and hot crumpets between the butt cheeks and stuff?" As soon as the words leave my lips I feel the burning red blush light up my face, and Oscar scowls at me with a shake of his head.

"Um...well, not that I ever saw." Dan laughs a little.

As Oscar and Dan catch up, I signal the bartender to bring me over another whiskey. This one doesn't burn so much. I think the previous ones had already numbed my insides sufficiently.

"Well I've got to go, but it's been good seeing you Ossi. Nice to meet you Kristan. Enjoy the rest of your birthday." Dan flashes me a perfectly white smile.

"Yeah, you too." What?! I think the whiskey has dissolved my brain.

Oscar sits back down next to me. "God. I haven't seen him in like, ten years?"

"You, sir, have been holding out on me."

"What?"

"How many other sex god's are you friends with?" Oscar chuckles.

"Sex god? You think Dan Harper is a sex god."

"Did you not just see the guy you were talking to? The tall chiseled Greek God that was just standing in front of us? I would do anything that guy told me to do..."

"Um, Kris?"

"I would swallow every single time I blew him. I would even be prepared to shave above my knees for him."

"Good to know." Mortified, I slowly turn round and find a smirking Dan stood behind my stool. "I just came back to offer you both an invite to my parents Thanksgiving party, if you're not already busy."

"Thanks, Dan. We'll be there." Oscar tries to hide his grin, and I desperately wait for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. Both men look at me expectantly and I think I manage a smile and a wave. Dan flashes another dazzling smile and walks away.

"Kill me. Kill me now." I drop my head with a loud bang onto the glass counter of the bar. "Some birthday, huh." I mutter into the cool surface.

Oscar chuckles and pats my sympathetically on the back of the head. "It can only get better?"

***

A week later it's Thanksgiving and I am sat on an absurdly expensive couch in Daniel Harper's parents' house, jiggling my leg nervously.

"Will you calm down. You're making me nervous." Oscar puts his hand on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze when I flash him a small smile.

"Sorry. It's just...I didn't exactly make the best first impression with your friend and I just could really, really do with a hot roll around in some expensive silk sheets." I take in Oscar's cringe. "He's behind me again, isn't he."

My best friend nods, and I turn to find Dan, who is biting his lip to keep himself from smiling. My cheeks blaze again and the two men start laughing.

"I'm glad you both could make it tonight." Dan reaches for my hand and again lifts it to his lips for a quick kiss, his designer stubble tickling the skin on my knuckles. Swoon! "And for future reference, I only use Egyptian cotton sheets." He winks at me, then leans across and shakes Oscar's hand. "Ossi, glad you came. There should be a couple of other Grayson boys here tonight, it'll be like an impromptu reunion."

"Great! Should be fun."

"I'll catch up with you later."

Oscar lifts his drink in salute. Once Dan had been swallowed back into the crowd of overdressed socialites, he gulps it back in one mouthful. "Okay. We're leaving."

"What? Why?" Oscar stands and pulls me up, giving me a second to steady myself on the sky scraper heels I'd painfully squeezed my feet into for the evening before he intertwines our fingers and leads us towards the front door.

"Because I don't feel like reliving my school days. I fucking hated it then, and I still hate it now."

I knew Oscar hadn't had the best of school experiences, being shipped off to a strict Catholic boarding school as soon as he was old enough, but I'd never asked too many questions. The few I had ventured, he'd always dodged.

"Okay. We'll go. But can I just go grab some food real quick," I hold my hands up pleadingly, giving him my best puppy dog sad eyes. He rolls his eyes.

"Fine. But be quick." I salute him, and as I turn to walk away towards the well stocked buffet table, he slaps me playfully on the ass. I turn and flip him off, sticking my tongue out.

As I load a napkin with scrummy looking mini party food, a hand snakes its way round my waist and I jump, slipping off my heels as I do so. I blindly grab onto anything I can to save myself from ending up on the floor with my food. Once I'm stable I realize my hand had grabbed onto someone's crotch. Daniel Harper's crotch. His very sizable crotch to be precise. A pained look flits over his face as my hand clenches involuntarily in mortification.

"Do you think...you can maybe..." he gestures at my hand.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry." I let go and slowly rise back into an upright position, once again wishing the floor would just open up and swallow me. He subtly readjusts himself, a smile playing on his perfect lips.

"Kris? Are you okay?" Oscar appears beside me, gently taking my elbow to help steady me. I question again why I made the decision to wear these stupid stripper heels.

"I'm fine."

"Can't say the same." Dan's mouth twists into a smile.

"I'm so sorry. It's these ridiculous shoes. I'm not used to wearing heels. Honestly I don't know why I even bother to buy the things. I can't walk in them to save my life. And it's not like anyone even really ever notices what you have on your feet once you take your clothes off anyway-"

"I think what my friend here is trying to say is goodbye and thank you for the invite." Oscar claps his hand over my motor mouth, effectively stopping my verbal diarrhea.

Dan chuckles, biting sexily on his bottom lip. "I'll see you around."