Collide by Juliana Stone Read Free Book Online

of
them refurbished. And they were cold. Cripes, were they cold. She
curled her toes and ran her hands along her arms, her eyes falling
back to the dog. A dog that had a pink collar with silver studs and
diamonds that twinkled. The fear inside her tripled. Shane had a
dog. She was sure she’d heard Billie talking about the animal. It
had a weird name.
    Bobbi glanced toward the closed door and then
bent toward the animal, “Come here doggie.”
    The animal cocked its head to the side and
for a brief moment, Bobbi felt as if she were staring into the eyes
of a human—one who knew way too much.
    The dog’s tail wagged even harder, its entire
back end rocking, and then it ran to her side, tongue lolling to
the side as it barked.
    “Shush,” she whispered, glancing at the door
once more as she bent over and grabbed the tag. It was as pink as
the collar, with a phone number engraved on the back and when she
turned it over, she saw the animal’s name.
    Pia.
    “That’s it,” she said hoarsely, reeling away
from the animal. “You’re Shane’s.”
    The dog looked at her as if she was an
idiot—which apparently she was considering the day after her
wedding-that-never-happened, she was dressed in next to nothing…in
Shane’s bedroom.
    She stared at the bed once more, wracking her
brain, reaching for something more than the fuzzy memories of the
Hard Rock. Something more than Shane coming to her rescue.
Something that could tell her what happened after…
    After the bar.
    After they had come back to New
Waterford.
    She avoided the bed and stared out the
window, her hands falling to her chest as a wave of hot and cold
rolled over her. Snow whipped by the glass and she knew they were
in the middle of one hell of a storm. The window panes shuddered
and she closed her eyes tightly.
    Maybe this was just a dream. Maybe she hadn’t
run out on Gerald and left him at the altar. Maybe she’d gone
through with it and had just had way too much to drink at the
expensive reception. Maybe she’d danced until her feet could take
no more, twirling around the Country Club like a princess.
    The dog barked once more, interrupting her
fantasies.
    Yeah, and maybe she’d taken a trip to the
moon and back as well.
    “Oh, Bobbi,” she whispered, “you’ve really
screwed up this time.”
    A thought entered her head and she stumbled
across the room searching everywhere for her small clutch bag and
when she found it, she immediately dug inside, feeling a huge sense
of relief when her fingers closed over her cell phone. She whipped
it open and froze when she saw Gerald’s name come up. He’d called
her several times though the last one had come through just after
midnight.
    She ignored the text icon—which showed nearly
twenty-five messages—and called her sister Billie.
    Who picked up on the second ring.
    “Holy hell, Bobbi, I’ve been waiting forever
for you to call. Are you alright?”
    Bobbi swallowed and took more than a few
seconds to answer, unsure if she could even do so until she cleared
her throat. “I think so.”
    Silence followed her words.
    “Okay, you don’t sound like you’re about to
lose it or anything, which considering you spent the night with
Shane, is kind of surprising but…”
    “I didn’t spend the night with Shane.”
    Once more silence followed her words.
    “ Okay , but you’re with him right? He
told us that he had you and that you were drunk but would be
fine.”
    Bobbi chose to ignore that comment and
instead focused on something else. “So, does everyone hate me?”
    A pause.
    “Well, not everyone. I still love you.”
    Bobbi couldn’t even muster a half smile at
that. “I don’t know where to start. What to say. Gerald must be
livid, and Dad,” the knot in her throat became too much and she had
to work extra hard to clear it. “How is he?”
    “He’s fine, Bobbi. Don’t worry about us.
Don’t worry about anyone other than yourself right now.”
    A pause.
    “So, how did you and Shane end