A Collateral Attraction Read Online Free PDF Page B

safe.
    The lights of Manhattan blink below me, the Freedom Tower rising above all the other buildings in the distance. It’s a view many can only dream of, though my eyes barely register the view. Instead, I see only my reflection on the glass, a woman I barely recognize.
     
----
     
    The ringing of the phone on the bedside table wakes me up the following morning. I’m in one of the guest bedrooms wearing one of Blythe’s night dresses for I have no idea where she’s stored my luggage. She’d been so horrified that I dared to bring Mom’s retro suitcase that she had one of the staff put it away.
    I rub my eyes and peer at the caller ID, unsure if I should even answer the phone. But the moment I see Ethan’s name and a picture of a blond-haired man on a horse, I’m suddenly awake. I grab the phone before the call goes to voicemail.
    “Hello,” I say, my voice thick with sleep. When I glance at the bedside clock, it says 5:45 AM.
    “Billie,” says a familiar voice on the other line, though a little sternly.
    “Blythe!” I scramble to sit up, pushing my hair from my face while getting tangled in the covers. “Are you alright? Where are you? You can’t believe what a relief it is to hear from you! I’ve been-”
    “What the hell were you doing making out with Heath?”
    “Wait — what ?”
    “I saw you and him together when Jackson and I went back into the bar to get you,” she says. “He was all over you-”
    “For your information, I was trying to get away from him. Besides, after everything you told me about him, why would I do that to you?”
    “I don’t know, Bee.  You tell me.  You’ve always wanted to get back at me after what happened with Andrew-”
    “Andrew was so three years ago!” I sputter. “Why the heck would I even do that? You told me how much you didn’t like Heath, so why would I even-”
    “-suck face with him? Because that’s exactly what I saw you do, and Jackson saw it, too,” Blythe says angrily. “Not only that, but one of the girls at the shop, Amelie, told me that Heath talked to you while I was getting my dress fitted this afternoon, yet you never said anything to me.”
    “I forgot,” I reply, not knowing what else to say.
    “Not only that, but Jackson said Heath had his hands all over you, and you guys knew each other pretty well. He said that you two seemed a bit too close-”
    “Close?” I exclaim and this time, I get out of bed and pace the floor. “He thought I was you, Blythe — you! Now you tell me, what would give him the idea to act the way he did with me, huh? Like there’s more going on between you two? Maybe Natasha’s right — you always had the hots for the brother with the most money.”
    “You believe Natasha?  Haha, funny, Bee.  But that’s just low coming from you.”
    “Low? What’s low is you accusing me of whatever it is you think I’ve done without first asking me,” I say. “You left me there-”
    “Why shouldn’t I?  You were doing well by yourself and Heath was all over you! You didn’t even see us walk past you because you guys were so into each other. Are you so desperate to be me that you’d do anything to get yourself a man, even if it’s the very person I warned you about? After everything I told you about Heath, how could you do that to me and go behind my back — and Ethan’s back. It’s through his generosity that you got that entire make-over or the shopping for dresses-”
    “Then I’ll pay him back!” I exclaim. “Whatever happened to, ‘it’s my card, not Ethan’s.'”
    “It’s still his money,” she seethes. “So what do you do in return? You suck face with Heath, who’s taken Ethan’s company away from him. I told you about Heath-”
    “I was not sucking his face,” I say through gritted teeth. I realize I’m no match to Blythe’s biting words whenever we have arguments like this — or any argument for that matter — though we’ve only had one argument over a man before this,