second
place
is just
first
Place
Loser

One hundred and ten points...that was what had cost him the title of champion. Puddlemere had just beaten the bloody Falcons. Not even two weeks ago, he'd snatched the Golden Snitch out of the air and secured the win for his team. But he had not done it soon enough.

He was not getting drunk. The man was just having a drink to ease the touch of sorrow. He needed a moment to himself to process the loss. With the Epidemic ravaging the health of so many, he should not have been so selfishly minded--but Quidditch was his life. The season being called early was bad--but losing the championship and being second place made it worse. He almost wished United was ranked last. Then it would not feel like he had been robbed of something--because if it hadn't been called...he just knew that they would have risen up and taken the title.

He knew his team was disappointed--and he carried the weight of that heavily on his shoulders. He felt responsible- Because ending the matches fell to him. He was their seeker...and he was their captain. He should have been better for them.

Jaxon had been feeling the need to be better period a lot lately. Finding out he had a son was a lot for the man. The last few weeks of his life had felt like he was living someone else's. Going from not knowing anything about his boy to being a full-time parent since Aphrodite was hospitalized was a big change for the man. Quidditch was rough, but a kid was utterly exhausting. To get a bit of a break to worth through the news of the day, he had dropped Renny at day care. It was probably good for the child to be around some others his age, anyway-- and to have some aspect of the routine the little boy was used to still present was surely comforting, too. 

He nursed his beer and just tried to figure out where to go from here. He wasn't sick...but who knew how long that would last--and what would he do with Renny if he started getting sick? He should really discuss that with Aphrodite, just in case. His mother made sense to him, but that probably would not be something that Affy was comfortable with having never met the woman. Maybe he should bring Lacey to Pyxis... Especially with it getting close to the full moon. He would not be able to keep Renny that night no matter what the blonde thought of his mother. He did not want to out himself to Affy, but if she hated Lacey (a possibility he could not imagine at all), he would have no other choice.

Jaxon felt both very grown up and very juvenile all at the same time. He had all these very adult worries running through his mind, but he was also rather heartbroken over a sport season being called early. That hardly seemed like a thing a grown man would be so pained by...even if it was the man's career. 

Conversation would make him feel better than drinking alone--so, Jaxon kept himself aware of the door of the pub. Surely a familiar face would come in eventually--and in time, one did. He'd not seen Tessa since he first met her, but he had not forgotten her--or her moon bracelet. When she walked in, he threw his hand up in greeting and to get her attention. "How do ye do, Tessa?" Jaxon asked, flashing one of his dimpled grins the pretty brunette's way. "If you ain't meetin' somebody, why dontcha join me?" The seeker drawled, standing slightly as he gestured to the empty seat at the small table where he sat. A little twinkle came to his eye as he added: "Even if ye are, I'm better company anyway-so go on and have ye a seat."

@contessa | outfit

First Place

Loser

The country was in quarantine. People seemed to be sick everywhere. But she wasn’t. And her pack wasn’t. and Tess wasn’t going to just admit that she was a werewolf and ask if that had anything to do with it. But she was curious. There weren’t all that many people here that knew what she was. And she certainly didn’t plan on exposing herself to any more. But she thought that it was worth trying to find out if there were any other wolves that were sick. She didn’t think that there were. The people that she had talked to. The people that her people had talked to. She was fairly certain that they were going to be okay. Her pups were fine. That she was glad for. Zero was the youngest, and that was something she was equally glad for. She hated that he was as young as she had been, but she was glad that he wasn’t sick too.

They had had them check in to the hospital, and she was certain that there were no wolves that were foolish enough to have themselves locked in a building with a bunch of innocents. Of course, they were not all innocent. There were plenty among them that had ideals that had gotten people hurt over and over again. But she thought that for the sake of her point, they were all going to be considered innocents. They hadn’t asked to be locked up with a werewolf as they approached the full moon. It was nearly a week away now. And Tess had gotten very good at managing that throughout her life. But she was fairly certain that after nine years, and wearing her ring, she could tell the moon without hardly even thinking. It had become that much a part of who she was now.

It was still early, but Tess thought that she could use something to eat, and she could use a beer or something to wash it down with. She had spent the day in London, and she didn’t do that very often, but there had been some things that she needed to take care of, and with everyone seeming to get sick all around her, she wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to be able to hold out. Maybe she wasn’t going to get it. Maybe she was. But she couldn’t’ stop living her life just in case. That was one lesson she had learned a long time ago. That you just had to keep moving forward if you wanted to succeed at anything along the way. If you stopped, and you waited for it to be safe out there before you continued on, you’d never move another step. It wasn’t only being a wolf that had taught her that. It was being a woman. And it was being free. She had her freedom, and she had learned to use it.

Helping others was a godo way to do that. And she would continue to do that, but tomorrow. Right now, she thought that food and beer were in order before she headed back up into the empty expanse that was her land. With Bex having left back for France at the beginning of the summer, and her pups only being around every now and then, Tess thought that she got lonely on occasion. And that was a stereotype that she didn’t need. The Lone Wolf. “Hey Jaxon.” She smiled when she saw the seeker sitting at small table, and she dropped down in the seat next to him. “I’m not meeting anyone, so you’re definitely better company than food, and beer alone.” She hadn’t really thought that she would run into anyone that she knew, but this had seemed like the best place to grab something quick. Now, she thought that she wasn’t in as much of a rush if she wasn’t going to be here all on her own.

@ jaxon - 658 - contessa's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRPHY 2.0

second place
_{is just first place loser}

Having someone to share a meal with that was an actual adult and not a two year old (albeit a very cute two year old that looked like him made over) was welcome for the seeker. Jaxon was accustomed to a very different life than the one he had been living the last few days. It was not an easy adjustment. He was not angry or bitter or disliking the changes--truly, Jaxon had always wanted a son--a family---he just never thought he would be safe to have one due to his lycanthropy. The closer he got to the full moon, the more worried he grew about what he could do to keep the boy safe--and keep himself safe, as well. He just did not know Aphrodite well enough to share something that significant with her. He absolutely could not tell her...but he, also, absolutely could not allow Renny to stay at the cabin on the twenty-fifth. It was a problem not easily solved due to how things had happened. If Affy had not gotten sick, he never would have had any opportunity to keep his son for such an extended period of time...and if he had known before so recently, Affy would have had time to get to know Lacey--and it would have been no big deal for the boy to go stay with his grandmum for an evening. 

But things were the way they were---and he'd just have to do the best he could. That was all anyone was doing these days. He'd checked in on a few of the wolves he had been close to back during his time in Alex's pack---and he'd obviously touched base with all his own wolves. It was bizarre that none of them were sick. Was it just the tendency of the wolves to just keep their distance from most other people that was keeping them healthy? He could definitely see that being the case for some of those who followed Alex. A lot of them were still very wary--and Jax could hardly blame them for that. Shit had been very rough under Durant. There was always the chance it could turn back against under this new regime. He held out hope for a better future for creatures, though--that was why he eventually wanted to go into politics when he left Quidditch---why he wanted to eventually come out to the world about what he was and how long he had been afflicted by lycanthropy. It was coming up on a decade now that he had been transforming during the full moon. He owed Alex and Larissa a lot for how well he did these days. They taught him so much. He would forever hold love in his heart for the McHalens. He just had a different vision for the future--and what his responsibilities as both a werewolf and a celebrity meant for him--it put him on a different path than his old pack. 

Jaxon believed that Larissa and Alex understood his departure and held no ill will towards him. He certainly had nothing but love and respect for the pair of them. They did work that he could not really do being such a familiar face. He could do different work, though...and someday, he would. Things just had to fall into place for the right time to step up and share his truth. He figured that time would come in the next decade or so--when he had gotten old enough to be respectable and not just seen as the party boy seeker. He was already trying to distance himself from that reputation. Part of that transition would be finding someone to settle down with a bit--if he could. Times were changing politically--so maybe it would not be so dangerous to be with him. He had thought he and Lilybelle would end up together since she had gotten bitten...but she saw things differently. He still loved her. Maybe he always would--mixture of veela allure and first love is really hard to shake. Who knew what would happen? All he could say right then in the moment was that he was open to letting someone into his heart again. 

The hopeless romantic in him saw possibility for love with every kind soul he met. It was that side of him that still harbored an old flame for Oriel.  The damaged artist with his beautiful hair and haunting eyes had gone through so much shit from Jaxon. It was remarkable O didn't just flat out hate him... Maybe he did these days---Jaxon hadn't seen Oriel in an age now. Not since the muggleborn registration mandate had come down and the other wizard had gone on the run. Jax hoped he was safe. 

It was times when he had to go out for a drink alone that he really missed those he had pushed away--it had all been done to protect them...But Jaxon was not one to like being alone. He needed people around him. He drew energy from conversation. Being alone was very rough for the extrovert...Lately though, just going out and getting lost in the crowds was not enough to energize him. He needed to actually connect with someone. He had felt a spark of connection when he had first met Contessa. She was lovely and interesting and friendly--Of course, he had wanted to bed her...but more than that, he had been curious to know her...and honestly, Jax had been very curious to know why she wore that bracelet. It had given him this sliver of an inkling or perhaps a hope that she was a werewolf, too...or at least not prejudice against them. 

As the woman joined him, he grinned at her reply--his dimples making another charming appearance. The little divots always did their part to try to woo those who looked upon his boyish face. Even with his beard, the roundness of his cheeks and the youthful gleam in his eyes kept him looking young despite his proximity to thirty.  "Well, I'm glad I can be better comp'ny than no comp'ny." He laughed a brief, deep chuckle of a laugh and ran a hand through his mess of rambunctious curls. The soft, brunette strands were untamable, but even somewhat of a mess, still flattered his dark skin and strong cheekbones. 

"How ye been, Tess? You and yours staying clear of all this craziness?" Jaxon asked eluding to the epidemic. He was, also, dropping a lowkey question in there to find out if the woman had any significant other. There was no golden band on her hand--but more and more couples were rejecting that old tradition, so it was no clear sign one way or the other.  

Contessa West | OUTFIT | 1100+

First Place

Loser

There wouldn’t be a time in her life when Tess wasn’t worried about her Pack. They were more important to her than anything. She was mother, and sister, and friend, along with being their leader. She was everything that she had to be, and even more, everything that she wanted to be. It wasn’t duty as much as it was choice. They were her Pack. She hadn’t had to establish dominance, she hadn’t had to put her neck on the line for them, but she would. Because Tess believed in the fact that she could be more than just a wolf. That they could all be more than that. They were not to be feared, they were to be embraced, and the first step towards acceptance was teaching wolves to embrace themselves. If they could make their peace with what they were they could learn to have a little more control. They could learn what it took to curl up and sleep through it. They could learn not to be monsters. And she believed that they all carried that potential.

Teas would fight for her pups. Even the ones that were older than she was. She believed in a course that was different than most. She believed that it was possible for them to all exist in harmony. But that was something that she viewed long term. The horses were the first step. For all of the wolves in her pack. If they could learn to get along with the horses, then they were that much closer to learning how to get along with humans. Because they weren’t human. And Tess thought that that just might have been what was actually protecting them right now. She had contact with too many people through the stables to have not contracted whatever this was. And it wasn’t just her. None of them had it. And she thought that that had to mean something. Years of traditional beliefs had her thinking that there had to be a reason.

Whatever it was that was keeping them safe. She was grateful for it. Coming in here, she hadn’t thought that she was going to run into Jaxon, but she certainly didn’t mind. She would gladly take company, and she hadn’t even hesitated to sit down across from him. She had been surprised by the man’a knowledge of plants the first time that she had met him. Yes, Tess had learned a long time ago not to take a book by its cover, but she could admit that at first she had thought that there had to be ulterior motives for a famous Quidditch player to be in a plant shop. And maybe there had been, but he had seemed, to her anyway, a more genuine person than how most of the articles printed about him portrayed him. Teas thought that the day that someone started taking Vexed magazine as fact they were going to have even bigger problems facing society than they did now. And they had problems. Plenty of them.

She smiled at the seeker across the table, “I suppose you’ll do.” It was easy to smile when she had far less to worry about than most everyone else right now. When he asked how she’d been she thought about it for a moment and then she shook her head, “Better than most. I haven’t caught whatever bug is going around, so I’ll take that as a win.” It seemed as though he hadn’t either, and Tess thought that that alone was worth having a drink to. “What about you? I heard they ended Quidditch early…” She didn’t really follow Quidditch enough to know whether the announcement of the Falcons winning was good or bad, but she could understand the choice. Better to end it before anyone got hurt. They didn’t need to be picking broken players up off of the pitch.

@ jaxon - 648 - contessa's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRPHY 2.0

Second place
_{is just first place loser}

Having a lovely companion to share a drink and perhaps a meal with was a much better way to spend a few hours than moping over a cold one by himself. There was something about Contessa that put him at ease a good bit, too. She had been so easy to talk to in the plant shop. Jaxon was not one to struggle in most conversations, but talking with her that day had taken no effort at all--their musings had just meandered about easily and naturally. Jax was glad to see the woman again. Having her here in front of him now made his think that he should have owled her before now. He might have if Quidditch had not been taking up all of his time. That obviously was not the case anymore. So, there would be no excuse after today--assuming things went as swimmingly as they had previously--for him to not see if she wanted to hang out sometime again. Shameless manwhore that he was, he really wanted to get the beauty back to his cabin. But he was trying to cut back a little bit on the casual hookups thing. Shagging everything he could was not really the best way to actually find someone to have something more with.

The light joshing back and forth with Tessa kept the easy boyish grin on his face. He liked being around those that could joke about with him. The world had much seriousness, darkness and struggle in it. If you could not laugh at the little things, then what a miserable existence you were setting yourself up for. Keeping up the teasing tone, he bobbed his in a slow nod with a bit of a dramatic expression on his face and said: "I get it, you just settlin'--that's alright." His dimple winked at the brunette as his grin widened a bit. With all the craziness that had been going on for so long, Jax enjoyed to be able to have a little bit of light, jovial conversation.

The woman answered his question, but without really giving any hard confirmation about who might be waiting at home for her. That was good enough for Jaxon---he was one to err on the side of believing that if you weren't saying you had someone, you either didn't--or you wished you didn't.  Either way, that meant the opportunity was open for him. He was not going to jump to try to settle down with someone who was going out on their significant other, but most people did not expect him to have any interest in settling down at all. Thanks to his handsome face, charms, and more than a little help from the Puddlemere United PR team: Jaxon Cole had a very established reputation for liking pretty things and having a good time.

His grin shifted towards a more genuine smile as he offered up a reply: "Glad to see you well. I been over the hospital a few times--see teammates and the like. Got all sorts up in there--Crazy to see s' many sick...and healers ain't gotta clue." His voiced dropped down lower as he spoke about the more serious matters. The seeker gave a little shake of his head. It did not make any sense to him. He motioned for the barkeep to come over so that Contessa could actually get a drink and a menu if she required it. He didn't want to just sit in front of her with his beer--that was hardly gentlemanly. He let the man take her drink request before answering her about Quidditch. It was good to have the moment to compose himself anyway--kept him from sounding too much like a child scorned.

As the barkeep walked away, Jaxon let out a short sigh, his head nodding as he started to speak: "Yeah...season's done." His disappointment rang through his voice.  "I understand, of course--and it's the right decision. I ain't wantin' none of my players up in the air til some shit gets figured out....but it's a little blow to the spirit and the ego, too, I guess, for the Falcons to get the title." His jaw clenched a little when he spoke of the other team--and short scoff rose up from his chest trying to mingle with a chuckle. "Ye know we just been 'em--last match of the season...came s' damn close to the title, I can taste it. But just got second place. Merlin, I gotta sound like a right ass, though, goin' on about that with all this shit goin' on." He grinned at the woman again. "Ye don't be thankin' the worst of me, now. I know it's just a game to most people--it's just a little bit more to me--it's how I make my livin'... And it ain't just for me that I'm s' salty. Being the capt'in of this lot--I owe them. I try to lead 'em and work 'em hard--and they give everythang...and it shoulda been enough for 'em to get 'em some rangs."

Contessa West| OUTFIT | 800+

first place loser

that's what they call it

when you come in second place

The way that this world worked, meant that Tess never thought of only herself. Not when she had others that relied on her. People that she had to take care of. She wasn’t going to let them down. She wasn’t going to do anything that didn’t have their best interests at heart. And that meant everything. Tess was no stranger to going home with someone, or bringing someone home with her, but she had never even thought about anything more than that. She wouldn’t do anything that would put them at risk. They were her children as much as they were anything. Zero was only ten years younger than her, and yet Tess looked at him the way she would have looked at a son. He was her responsibility. She was going to make sure that he was well taken care of and protected. He was the youngest right now too. She knew that she had a young pack. But that was part of it.

Taking care of them was her priority, and she thought that that was something that she needed to do. She needed to focus on that. Because she knew that making sure that they learned from the start that they were not monsters, and that they needn’t be frightened of themselves, or of what they could do to others, was important. If they were allowed to see themselves as monsters, it was something that they were going to have to try and overcome. They didn’t have to be frightened, and that was something that she wanted them, and everyone else, to understand. They weren’t human anymore, but they were still people. They had always been people. Having an affliction, it wasn’t something that they could help, but it was something that they could try and steer people away from.

If they could change attitudes, and perceptions, then maybe they could change the world. And Tess knew that it wasn’t that easy. She knew that there were things that were going to have to happen before something like that could actually come through, but they could make a difference. She could make a difference. Or that was what she was trying to tell herself. Maybe not tonight, maybe not right now, but eventually. Eventually they could make a difference. And really that was all that she could ask for.

“Oh, you know it.” She shook her head at him, “Is it really settling if my date for the night ends up being Jaxon Cole?” Tess wasn’t sure that that was settling in the least, but it was something that she couldn’t resist asking anyway. There were rumors that Jaxon was connected to just about every witch that she could think of, and even some of the wizards. She didn’t think that there was anything wrong with that, but she didn’t believe it either. He had a reputation for having a good time, and she thought that she could get behind having a little fun. Even if all they did was cause rumors to start by having dinner together.

“It’s a mess.” She was glad that none of her pack had ended up in the hospital, but as far as she could tell there were still plenty that had. Her stepmother had. “My stepmother and my sister ended up in there. My father and brother were apparently too stubborn. I can’t even imagine what the healers are going through.” And that was the truth. She knew enough about Cherokee medicine to know how frustrating it was not to be able to fix something. Let alone something like this. There was something about all of it that felt, well, just wrong. The whole thing was off, unnatural, and Tess thought that she understood nature enough to know something like that.

She could hear the disappointment in his voice when he answered her question about quidditch, but as he explained it she thought that he had a right to be upset. If they had beaten the team that had won that wasn’t exactly fair. “You don’t. Sometimes we need to remember that it’s okay to be upset about the normal things too. The world keeps spinning, no matter what.” When the barkeep set her drink down in front of her she shook her head, “I don’t think the worst. I think you’re passionate, and you just want to protect your people. It’s noble.” Tess thought that that was what she wanted to do. She wanted to protect her pack with the same passion that Jaxon had about his teammates. “I’m sure that they still love you. You obviously care for them.”

@ jaxon • 771 • contessa's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

second place
_{is just first place loser}

The bar was not as loud as it usually was. The crowd was cleared out by so many being at the hospital, whether they were sick themselves or just accompanying others. There were a lot of wolves in the place tonight, though--there always were quite a few. Most that he knew in the place tonight either had visible scars or he had met over the years doing work with the McHalens. Alex and Larissa were really good people. He would always appreciate them--even if they were walking different sorts of paths at the moment. 

Not all places were as lycan friendly as The Roadhouse. If rumor could be believed, the late owner and former husband of Jaxon's baby momma had swung way the other way. As Jax had heard it, the bloke had been part of Durant's werewolf capture unit...Also, as Jax heard it, that shit life caught up with him and now Aphrodite was doing a good bit to make up for her late husband's abuses of the wolves. She might have been trying to make amends with those who had been wronged, but he still was not too sure that she would be very happy that her son's father was a werewolf. A lot of people who were not necessarily prejudice in the blatant ways still did not really want to get too close to wolves that were out about their nature. 

Jaxon did not realize the woman joining him went through the same transformation as him every full moon. It was not something that just got broadcast out there. If scars weren't visible, there were not any signs that betrayed someone as being a wolf. If there were, Jaxon would have ended up outed a long time ago. 

His boyish grin flashed as she joked with him. A shrug of strong shoulders paired with his response: "It might sound like braggin' if I said hella nah--so I'll just let ye decide for yourself about that one." A quick wink punctuated the sentence. He did not think about who might see them or any rumors that might swirl. People were always talking about him. It had been a very long time since he had really noticed. The attention was all just part of playing the sport. Quidditch was something he loved--the fame and fortune that he got from being good at it was not too bad either.

"Sorry to hear about your family. That's rough. Crazy that the healers can't figure any of this out. Don't feel right. Don't make no sense." He frowned a bit and his voice rang with sincerity when he told her: "Hope they get better soon." Jaxon really did care about all these people falling ill. It made for a very scary time. Not to seem like he was not sharing himself, he casually added on: "I ain't got to worry 'bout my folks. Dad's been in the ground a long time now--and Ma, she's a muggle. No brothers or sisters, either." He did not look sad about his dad--and he was certainly not ashamed that his mother was not a witch. This was just the way things were. Jaxon would always carry some damage around from his dad having passed when he was so young. But for the most part, he had made peace with that. When Daniel, his father, had died, Jax had given himself ten years to be torn up about it. Every year on the anniversary of Daniel's death during those ten years, he had let himself break down. He'd spent hours crying. But now, when that anniversary rolled around, he tried to always do something to honor the memory of his old man, but in a positive way, not one that focused on his pain. 

The wound from the pre-mature ending of the Quidditch season was not nearly so deep, but it was fresh. So, Jax had a bit more emotion when it came to talking about that. He really felt like he had let his team down. He took as much responsibility over their success or failure as a man could, because he was both seeker and captain. He was the one to guide them, to inspire them, and ultimately he was the one that should have ended every match in their favor at the most opportune time for them. He had not been able to do that. So, here they were: first place losers. 

"I appreciate you listenin' to all that--and it's mighty kind for you to be callin' me noble. Try to do right by my team, by my pa-parent, by my kid." He had nearly slipped up and said he tried to do right by his pack. It was not the first time he had almost said something that he shouldn't like that. In his mind he had so many of the same sort of feelings towards his teammates as he had towards his wolves. It made it very easy to just drop something into conversation about one when discussing the other. That was all well and good when he was with other weres. It wasn't particularly great in other situations. But he covered it decently well, he thought. And dropping in the comment about his kid right after was a good distraction. It was not really out there yet that he had a son. He was trying to be careful to keep Renny out of the spotlight, at least while Affy was in the hospital. Eventually, it would come out that he had a child, but he needed to talk to Ari to make a plan for that.

Contessa West | OUTFIT | 900+

first place loser

that's what they call it

when you come in second place

Taking care of her pack meant that Tess never put herself first. She was their leader. She was the one that was going to be responsible if anything happened to them, and she thought that they knew that. That they knew that she cared that much. That she would put herself in the way of anything that were going to harm them. And that was something that she didn’t think that they had gotten enough of in their lives. Zero was the one that she worried about the most. He was the youngest, and he was, like her, an import. She was sure that there were things that they had in common that no one had ever dreamed that he was going to find here, but she was glad to have him anyway. She was glad to have all of them. They were her pack. She was their mother, their sister, their friend. But before she was any of that, she was their alpha, and that meant that they came first.

She would spend the rest of her life putting her pack first. That was what she was supposed to do, and she knew that that would have been what she would have done if she hadn’t gotten bitten. She would have stayed at her mother, and her grandmother’s sides. She would have learned what it meant to be the woman that they were. To help lead and guide their people. She knew that she was going to have to learn to do things differently, that over the last nine years, she had learned to do things differently. She was not bitter, she was no longer upset over what had happened to her. She had learned to embrace her life as it was now, and that made her stronger. It made her a better leader.

Or at least she thought that it did. She wanted to be good enough to lead them. And yet, there were occasions when she wanted to do something else. When she wanted to do something that was going to benefit her, and just her. And sometimes that meant that she was going to go out to dinner on her own. Sometimes that meant that she was going to go to a bar and see what it was that happened. Because sometimes she needed to be human too. Even if she weren’t completely human anymore. She didn’t think anything of being seen with Jaxon in public. Her name had already appeared in that magazine on the list of people that he had supposedly slept with. She didn’t think that they could say much else.

Shaking her head at him she flashed him a smile. “I think I’ve got a pretty good idea.” He wasn’t a bad date for the night, even if it wasn’t really a date, and they had just happened to be in the same place at the same time. “That’s alright. I think they are hanging in there well enough.” Nodding in acceptance of his thanks she was surprised when he started telling her about his own family. She hadn’t known that his father was dead, or that his mother wasn’t a witch, but it was the latter that stuck with her more than the former. “My mom isn’t a witch either. No-maj, American even.” Tess herself had been born and raised in America. It was only her father that was from the UK. She hadn’t expected to tell him that either, but it seemed that she had more in common with Jaxon Cole than she had thought that she did.

Tess hadn’t even really been trying to be nice, it had just been that she had expected that. That he would be the kind of guy that, no matter what all of the tabloids kept saying about it, he had the streak of a decent guy in him. “It is noble, to take care of those that mean so much to you.” But it wasn’t the nobility that she was thinking about now, “I didn’t know you had a child.” There was no accusation in her tone, nothing of the sort, just a genuine curiosity as she tried to imagine the famous Jaxon Cole crawling around the floor with a toddler. “How old?” She shook her head before he could answer, “You don’t have to tell me that, sorry. I was just trying to picture you with a kid. In ‘Dad Mode’.”

@ jaxon • 740 • contessa's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0