Read Online Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) by Sadie Grubor - Free Book Online

she would look back, but instead she straightened her spine and shoved
through the door.
    Pulling away from Elora's house, I
flipped open my phone, found the contact and hit the talk button.
    "Yeah?" James grumbled.
    "I did it!"
    "Did what?" Panic choked his
words.
    "I proposed to Elora," I bit
the side of my mouth, "in front of her family. Your father was right, they
couldn’t be happier." I almost had to pull over so I didn’t crash.
    "Y-you d-did…she said yes?"
His anger seeped into his tone.
    "Of course," I snorted.
    He fell silent.
    "James?"
    "Yeah," he grunted.
    "You stupid ass! I’m kidding! Why
didn’t you tell me about Elora?"
    "I don’t know…I just…I don’t know.
Then my father told me to keep my mouth shut—"
    "Your dad knew and he was making
you just deal with me dating and possibly proposing to her? That’s really
screwed up, James." I was astonished. I knew my Uncle Henry was an asshole
but, shit, that was his own son.
    "So you and Elora…"
    "Good luck with her man. She’s all
yours. I wish you would’ve told me beforehand, I wouldn’t have even started
this."
    "Whatever. So what the hell are you
going to do now?"
    "I’m not sure." Sitting in
deadlocked weekend traffic felt like a metaphor for my current situation.
    "Well, what are you doing right
now?"
    "Probably just heading home, unless
you have a better idea."
    "I have an extremely better idea,
but it does not include you, Cuz." He laughed. I knew where he was heading
tonight. I just left her at her parents.
    "Well, Dixon’s place is on the way,
so maybe I’ll stop there and call Oz." The traffic finally began to move.
    "Alright. I’ll call you
later."
    "Later." With a new
destination, I squeezed my car over into the right lane.
    Parking in front of Dixon’s building. I headed
up to his apartment. When I got to his door, I could hear Dixon’s raised voice.
    "Damn it, Lilli, you’re sick,
you’re not going to work!"
    "I can’t believe you turned off my
alarm clock, Dixon! I just needed some sleep. You really crossed a line!" I
heard Lilli scream, followed by slamming noises.
    "You’re going to kill yourself if
you keep up a schedule like this and you know it," he yelled.
    "Dixon, look you don’t have to
worry about it okay? It’s my problem. I’m gonna drop my classes anyhow and just
get the other job that I talked—"
    "You can’t do that! Lilli, I know
you love your dad and you know I love him too, but it’s time to figure
something else out, don’t you think? This isn’t working." He started to
get quieter, but I could still hear him through the door.
    When it got silent, I hesitantly knocked
on the door. The door swung open. Dixon greeted me with a red flushed face and
flared nostrils.
    "Hey, Aidan, come on in." He
opened the door and let me in but walked quickly towards where Lilli stood in
the kitchen. "Get back to bed," he ordered.
    "You're not my father," she
stood defiantly before him.
    "Maybe I should just call him and
tell him about—"
    "Don’t you dare, Dixon! This is my
responsibility!" She glared at him.
    "To. Bed!"
    Lilli stormed off down the hallway and
slammed the door.
    I watched Dixon sigh heavily, his
shoulders hunched over.
    "What the hell was that
about?" When I didn't get a response, I spoke up one more time. "Should
I take off?"
    Dixon shook his head."She is just
so damn stubborn."
    "You are the second person that has
said that." He raised a brow to me questioningly. "Phoebe," I
answered his unspoken question.
    "Well she is. She has taken on way
too much and she is just going to collapse, again."
    "Again?" I asked as he handed
be a beer. Taking a seat on the couch, he sat in his chair.
    "It’s really not my place to say
anything, but Lilli overworks herself to pay for some financial difficulties
her father has and she has pushed school off so much that it seems she will end
up dropping out. It pisses me off. She’s smart and an amazing writer."
Dixon sat back in his chair and sighed.
    "A writer?" I