Fox watched his sister as she joined a young, blond man on the beach, well boy. He didn’t look much more than eighteen or twenty. He wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying but whatever it was had made the boy nervous. Fox had to move to keep from being seen when they moved towards him.
He strained to see what the boy had tried to throw away and Stella had stopped him. Now he had another mystery to figure out. Who was the boy and what had he caught Stella doing?
Of course he could confront his sister; however she’d accuse him of being overprotective and nosey. She’d be right too, after all he had followed her here just because she missed their family movie night two weeks in a row and refused to say why or where she was going.
Has she gotten a new boyfriend? Glancing at the couple talking, Fox frowned, the boy didn’t look like someone Stella would be interested in but then again she had been with her ex fiance since they had been kids. What did he know of her likes and dislikes?
Leaning against the post, he was tempted to just walk away and give Stella her privacy. But he couldn’t, at least not until he knew who the boy was. It was his duty as the older brother to watch out for his little sister. Someone had to make sure she didn’t get hurt.
His eyes wandered to the shoreline, the lake was calm and the first stars seemed to be shimmering on the surface of the water. Beautiful. A perfect setting for a date.
His thoughts went to Rose, the new volunteer at the shelter. He didn’t expect her to come back. She wasn’t the typical volunteer. Most spoiled rich kids only came to the shelter as part of their mandatory community service. Not Rose. She came because… he felt his cheeks flush with heat. Was it too much to hope she came because of him?
Shaking his head he brought his mind back to the present. It didn’t matter why she was there. Rose was a spoiled naive young woman who didn’t know anything of the hardships of the world. Much like his sister.
His eyes followed his sister as she strode swiftly away carrying what he could only describe as a sketchbook. The boy she’d been talking to was watching her as well like a love sick puppy.
Stepping around the post, Fox decided now was as good as any other to confront the boy.
“I want to talk to you,” Fox said, coming up behind the boy.
The boy jumped letting out a small gasp that was almost a squeak. He turned wide startled eyes “who who are yyyou,” he stammered.
Jerking his chin the direction that Stella had gone in, “I’m Fox, Stella’s brother. Her older brother,” he said, crossing his arms in front of him.
“Oh,” the boy’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.
Flexing his muscles Fox asked “now that you know who I am, why don’t you tell me who you are?”
“Me,” he squeaked.
“Yeah you,” Fox smirked like a cat playing with his prey.
“Orororion,” he stammered, swallowing hard.
Casually he leaned against a post silently observing the boy. “How long have you been seeing my sister?”
Orion frowned “I…I … .only wanted to sketch her.”
“Like an artist?” Even to Fox’s ears it sounded like a stupid question. It was only slightly better than the first words that came to mind. A line from the Titanic “draw me like one of your French girls.”
Shaking his head, Orion sighed “I’m not that good.”
“So you’re not like seeing each other?” Fox asked.
Orion seemed to be mesmerized by Fox’s flexing hands as it took him a moment to respond. “What?”
“Dating? Are you dating?” Fox demanded.
“Nnno,” Orion shook his head.
“Good,” Fox said, pushing away from the post ‘keep it that way.”
“What,” Orion said, looking confused.
“My sister is in a fragile state right now,” Fox explained moving in close. “I wouldn’t want to see her be hurt anymore than she already has.”
Gulping Orion took a step back. “I um,” he looked around as if he wanted to run but didn’t know which way to go.
Putting an arm across Orion’s shoulders, Fox continues “look you seem like a nice guy but I have to look out for my sister. You know how little sisters are, right?”
Orion stares at the hand laying heavy on his shoulder like it was a python instead of hand. “No,” he shakes his head “I..I don’t have any siblings.”
“Then you don’t know how it is,” Fox sounded a little disappointed. Squeezing Orions shoulder, he continued “as an older brother it’s my duty to look out for her even when she doesn’t want me to. And she wouldn’t want me doing this.”
Orion nodded, barely able to breathe “I..I won’t ssseee her again.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear,” Fox said, giving Orion’s shoulder one last squeeze before stepping back.
As Fox walked away Orion shivered from more than the cool breeze off the lake. What was he going to do now?
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