Hunters And Foxes

Chapter 9: Happiness in a tiny grin.

I flash of guilt covers Xavier's face for a millisecond. Right now I want to claw his throat out. But for the sake of my sister I will play nice. I plaster on a grin and hold out my hand for him to shake. 

"Hey I'm Penelope," I say with an overly sweet tone. He frowns but covers it up with a smile. 

"Nice to finally meet you, your sister talks about you a lot," Xavier says. Shaun gives me this look which I ignore. He knows something is off about my behavior but now is not the time to break it to him. Plus I've been missing my sister so much. I refuse to let the bastard ruin my day.

I take a seat at the table. Opposite to me sit Cassia and Shaun. Xavier and Millie are at either ends of the table. But there"s a spare place next to me. 

"Are we expecting someone?" I raise my eyebrows at my sister. 

"Ah yeah Xavier's brother is coming," Millie smiles. At that moment the front door opens and in walks an incredibly good looking guy, he looks familiar. 

"This is my brother Zander," Xavier tilts his head in the direction of the guy that looks around my age. I nod at him as he sits down next to me. 

"Hi I'm Penelope, have we met before?" I ask as the others continue their conversation as they pile salad onto their plates. 

"Ah maybe, do you live in Hurdleton?" He takes the bowl as Shaun passes it to him. 

"Yeah I do," I take a sip of my pineapple juice. 

"Oh I'm Beckett Reynold's cousin. I came and stayed with him over the summer." 

"Wait what!? Actually? Beckett dates my friend Lexi. Wait were you at her New Years party?" my blabbering makes Zander chuckle.

"Ah I think I remember you. You're the one that the guys said to stay away from," he smirks testing the waters. But his statement would be correct. They all stay away. I nod taking a bite of chicken. 

"You must know Eva then. She's god damn beautiful," he admits serving himself. A little excited yelp escapes my lips on hearing this.

"I sure do," I grin. 

"Is she still with that guy Hue?"

"He cheated on her, so no."

"Ah that sucks but secretly I'm glad. I really like her. The whole time I was staying I just wished that she would open her eyes and see that she can do so much better, you know. Sorry I'm just passionate about this." This is the kind of guy I would hope Eva would date. He'd treat her right.

"I'll put in a good word for you," I smile with my spinach teeth making him laugh.

"Do you have a boyfriend? If not I'm happy to find you one," he suggests.

Cassia who catches Zander's comment suddenly contributes to our discussion- "she has a guy she's interested in. He's only just started developing the balls to do something with his feelings towards her. Watch this space and I assure you in about a  week this girl will be taken. I can bet money on it." She whispers so the other three people at the table don't know what we are talking about.

"I can't oppose that bet. Because I can already tell that Penelope is a gal worthy of being treated like a princess."

"Aw Zander you don't have to flatter me," I chuckle.

"But it's true," Zander and Cassia say at the same time.

Our conversation is interrupted by Millie asking how my camp was. "It was great. I rekindled my friendship with Tommy. Sam says hi. He is such a nutter but ya gotta love that chap. It was a pity Storm couldn't come but Conroy was an alright substitute based on the fact that they have the same brain," I make an effort to look up at Xavier when I mention Conroy.