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“Don’t you have something you need to be doing?” she asked him as she went upstairs to take a shower. She realized that even though all she had done was lay outside, she smelled like the outdoors and sweat.

“Actually, yes. I am going with Brian to look at motorcycles. My parents have given me the money to purchase one so I will be able to get around on my own,” Fane told her.

“Why not a car? And what if it rains, won’t you get soaked?” Jacque asked.

“It’s cold most of the time in Romania. Why would I want to be cooped up in a car when I could be on a motorcycle with the sun on my face? And they make rain gear,” Fane explained.

“Oh. Well, I guess if you lived somewhere cold all the time, it would be nice to ride out in the suns.h.i.+ne,” she answered.

Jacque began gathering clothes to take to the bathroom. As she walked into the bathroom and closed the door she discovered she was reluctant to undress while they were talking through their thoughts. Somehow that felt way too intimate. As if sensing her discomfort, Fane asked her, “Is something wrong? Did I do something to upset you…besides imply your bathing suit was a bit skimpy?” Fane asked with little remorse.

“No, no, I’m fine. Just, um, got things to do is all. People and places, you know how it is,” she said awkwardly.

“Jacquelyn, why are you acting so strangely?” Fane asked.

Jacque rolled her eyes. Could he just leave it alone? If she had to spell it out for him she was going to be mortified. She could just hear herself explaining how she was sweaty from the sun and needed a shower and the thought of talking to him through their thoughts while she was b.u.t.t freaking naked was just a tad beyond her comfort zone.

Fane must have caught her pa.s.sing thoughts. Man, she really needed to learn how to block him out somehow.

“I will leave you alone since you have things to take care of. Just so you know, I may be a teenage guy, with teenage hormones, but I a.s.sure you I am not dishonorable, nor would I abuse our thought connection,” he said with firm conviction.

“I know you can hear my thoughts, but can you like, ‘see’ through my eyes?” she asked apprehensively.

“No, but I can see the things you think. Just as you can see what I think if you want. When your emotions are strong I feel you and hear your thoughts very loudly, even when you aren’t trying to communicate with me. You might want to bear that in mind,” Fane told her.

“How do I keep you out of my mind?” Jacque asked.

“All you have to do is imagine a wall in your mind between mine and yours. I will not be able to get past it. The same goes for me if I don’t want you to hear my thoughts.”

Jacque was surprised to find herself a little hurt at the idea of him not wanting her to hear his thoughts, but then she thought how absurd that was because everyone needed privacy.

“Okay, I'll keep all that in mind. And since we are in mind reading 101, could you answer me this? Who else can you do this with?” Jacque asked, not realizing how jealous she sounded.