Whispering Minds by A.T. O'Connor Read Free Book Online

Clarence’s voice out of my head whether he’s with me or not.”
    “So I’m not crazy?”
    “Nah. I’d say you’re pretty normal. Your conscience is just borrowing the voice of someone you’ll listen to.”
    I relaxed against his arm, comfortable for the first time all day. “Makes sense.”
    And means you’re not crazy after all. A foreign voice, not my own. I pegged it as belonging to Luna. I sat up. “What if it’s not someone related? Can they talk to you too?”
    Travis pulled back a bit, taking his eyes off the road long enough to make me nervous.
    I scrambled for an answer he would understand. “I mean like you, my best friend.” Or my cyber friends who I’ve never met?
    “James, too?” Trav’s voice had an edge to it. Jealousy, maybe? Anger? Hurt? I couldn’t tell.
    I nearly laughed at the ridiculous notion of me and cynical James hooking up. “Not James. Pinky swear. But how did you hear about him?”
    “You talk about him sometimes. In your sleep on the way home from games or during movies that bore you. I thought…maybe you... Who is he anyway?”
    “Some guy I met online.”
    Travis stiffened.
    Definitely jealous.
    I’d never led Travis on. Despite the closeness we’d always shared, I’d been honest about my lack of desire to date—him or anyone else. “It’s not like that. Remember the psych project on dreams I had to do?”
    The silence stretched between us. Unable to stand it, I continued. “Well, I started this group on a social network site. Collin, my psych mentor, helped me set it up. It’s called the Baker’s Dozen. Named after me and the fact that there are thirteen of us in the dream study.”
    Nothing.
    “Anyway, there’s also Luna, Fell, Indie, Brutus, yeah, well. Thirteen. Including me and James. And we still keep in touch online.” I fiddled with my hem again, waiting for Travis to answer.
    When he did, his voice was still tight. “Is James the one you call Angel all the time?”
    My snort cut through the air. “Seriously? No, Angel is one of the Dozen. She’ll probably be a nun someday, and James is so broody and angry. They’re complete opposites.”
    Travis relaxed slightly, but his knuckles stayed white on the steering wheel. “So, you’ve never met them?”
    Yeah, there was that. “I’ve never met any of them, but they’re still my friends. We just clicked. And it’s easier to talk to people about things when you don’t actually have to, you know, look them in the eye at school the next day.”
    “Easier than talking to me?”
    Guilt swallowed me, even as a small thrill tickled my stomach. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous.”
    Travis pulled me close. Close enough for me to feel the hard muscles of his arm under his dress shirt. Close enough for my pulse to quicken. “What with all the love you give me, how could a man be jealous?”
    It came out in jest, but stung just the same. My Karen Webber-esque crush on him was too new to be real—probably nothing more than raw emotions after Granny’s death—but I didn’t like the sound of his comment, as if it didn’t matter whether I liked him or not. Hurt, I resorted to our default mode of sarcastic banter. “Nothing like stroking your ego. I’m surprised you can make it through the day without me fawning all over you.”
    He gave me a sideways glance. “You do sometimes.”
    Again, the undertones that had been present at Granny’s house confused and frustrated me, like he knew something I didn’t know. “Never. You’re like the big brother I never had.”
    Trav’s arm tightened around me—possessively and not brotherly at all. “Gemi, you have…how much do you remember from when you were little?”
    I stifled a yawn and settled against his side. “Not much. You?”
    “More than some, I guess. Either that or my father and grandfather keep the memories alive better than most.”
    “Is this about your mom?” Travis had never talked about her, not in the four