Commitment by Nia Forrester

he was in the middle of prepping to go to Europe for shows in London and Paris. For weeks he’d walked around pissed and difficult to work with, not even knowing why. Then one night while listening to Riley on the phone describing with amusement, a run-in she’d had with someone in the Mayor’s office , it hit him. It was t he thought of being so far away , in such a different time zone from her and for so long that had gotten under his skin. Being away from her at all was growing a lot more difficult than he expected .
    Prep meetings and rehearsals on the West Coast didn’t leave him much time to fly to New York but he’d strong-armed Brendan into making it happen anyway. O ne night . That was all the time he could spare . Riley had a work event, something she couldn’t miss . S o they made plans for him to pick her up there when she was done.
    Shawn had pulled up in front of the restaurant at the appointed time, just as Rile y emerged from building. She was wearing a short skirt, which she seldom did. With it she had on a red turtleneck, black opaque tights and those boots of hers. S till, s he ’d looked so pretty, that at first, he’d smiled just at the sig ht of her.
    But she wasn’t alone.
    W ith her was a tall, blonde guy, one of those downtown hipster types, with skinny pants and snug jacket. He had his arm about Riley’s waist as though to steady her . They stood in front of the restaurant chatting for a few moments and then before turning to head in the direction of the subway, the blonde guy had leaned in to kiss her directly on the lips.
    Riley smiled and blew him a kiss as he walked away waving ; s omething in her manner reassuring Shawn that the guy was just a friend. B ut there had been a moment before that realization took hold – just a moment, but it was time enough to mess up his mood – of deep, searing, irrational anger .
    He was angry because he was leaving for Europe and wouldn’t see her for almost eight weeks .
    He was angry because while he was gone, her life would go on as usual like he didn’t even exist.
    He was angry because even though this current joker was just a friend, she did in fact have a boyfriend who , while he was gone, would kiss her , and hold her about the waist like this guy had and would even make love to her and Riley would let him, and would like it.
    That night Shawn had fucked her hard . That night he didn’t care if anyone got off, his sole intention was to make sure she was so sore she wouldn’t want anyone to touch her for weeks. And now, despite seeing her in New York last week and having her here with him in L.A., those feelings hadn’t gone away. Hell, they hadn’t even subsided .
    “What is this all about?” she finally asked now , her voice quiet.
    She set aside her knife and fork and rested her hands on the table as though preparing for a negotiation.
    “What is this ab . . ? Riley I just think we should get married, that’s all.”
    She swallowed. “That’s all ?” she demanded. “Do you even know my middle name? What elementary school I went to?”
    “No.”
    “Then why?”
    Because she couldn’t care less that he was K Smooth .
    Because minutes after she left, he was already thinking about when he’d see her again.
    Because her mind excited him as much as her body.
    Because he couldn’t stand the thought of her smiling at someone else the way she smiled at him, or holding their hand the way she did his.
    Because with her, he was that guy who didn’t want his girl dancing with anyone else. Little things. Big things. Everything about her.
    “I can’t lose you,” he said simply.
    She looked up at him, and her eyes were brimming over.
    “Think about it,” he said putting down his fork. “I’ll be away for awhile. Take that time and think about it.”
    “Is this because of last night? Because of Brian?” she asked, sounding desperate. “We never talked about being together exclusively and I never thought that that’s what you