Free The Thought Readers by Dima Zales Page B

baseball stats will pull this guy back from the edge. Just like that, we have a problem. Apparently Mira is a little too good-looking, because before I, Darren, even realize what’s going on, things happen somewhat . . . prematurely.
    Mira’s reaction to the situation is admirable. She’s not mad, she insists. She says not to worry about it. Says she had a good time. She isn’t fooling us, though. She leaves quickly and never speaks to us about this night, or anything else for that matter, again.
     
    * * *
     
    I’m back in my body in the Quiet, and the first thing I do is punch Brad in the face.
    “What are you doing?” Eugene exclaims, looking at me like I’m crazy.
    “Trust me,” I say, resisting the urge to also kick the guy. What a loser. Not only did he sleep with Mira, he didn’t even have the decency to be good at it. “He doesn’t feel it. Right?”
    “Well, yeah,” Eugene admits. “At least I highly doubt he feels it. But it looks disrespectful.”
    It’s almost too bad that Brad can’t feel the punch. I debate punching him once we phase out, but decide against it. I mean, what possessed me? Mira isn’t my girlfriend to be overprotective about. She might not even like me when we meet. One thing is clear, though. Without having said a word to her in real life, I like her.
    It’s shallow, I know. I’d like to say it’s based on the fact that I liked talking to her as Brad at that dinner—which I did. But truthfully, I just want to see her body again. I have to kiss her again. It’s weird. I wish I had been in someone else’s mind for this, my second Reading. I wish it hadn’t been Brad. I really need to find a boring person whose mind I can do this Reading thing with.
    “Let’s phase out,” I tell Eugene, and without waiting for his answer, I touch my forehead.
    The world comes back to life, and Brad brings us the stupid salt. Eugene thanks him, and we walk back toward Eugene’s apartment.
    “How was that?” Eugene asks on the way.
    He has no idea this thing happened between his sister and his neighbor. I decide to respect whatever shred of privacy these two have, and at least not mention anything to Eugene.
    “That was a good start,” I say. “I think we should go outside and do some more.”
    “Eugene,” a pleasant female voice says. A voice I just heard in Brad’s memory. “Who the fuck is this?”
    I look up and find myself staring down the barrel of a gun. Again.

Chapter 10
     
    Okay, I am officially sick of guns being pointed at me. Even guns pointed by a beautiful girl I just saw naked in someone’s mind.
    “Mira, put the gun down,” Eugene says. “This is Darren. I just texted you his picture. You didn’t get it?”
    She frowns, still holding the gun trained on me. “No, I haven’t checked my phone. Does your text explain how this creep stalked me all the way here from Atlantic City?”
    “No, not exactly,” Eugene admits. “But you have to cut the guy some slack. He tracked you down, but he has a good reason to be persistent. You’re the first other Reader he’s ever met.”
    I can tell that this knowledge surprises her. “How can I be the first Reader he’s met?” she asks skeptically. “What about his parents? What about the other Readers from wherever his home is?”
    “Manhattan,” I supply helpfully. “And in regards to parents, I’ll be having a very serious conversation with my mom about this very subject. For some reason, she didn’t tell me anything about this. And I’ve never met my father, but Eugene convinced me that he couldn’t have been a Reader because my mother got his sperm from a bank.”
    As I’m talking, Mira looks at me with more and more curiosity. “A sperm bank?” she repeats.
    “Yes. My mom, she wanted a child, but couldn’t bring herself to be with a guy, I guess.” Thinking of my mom in this context is weird, at best.
    “Why? Does she hate men?”
    Did Mira just say that approvingly?
    “She likes women,” I