Page 157 of Love Unavoidable
“Uh, all of it!” She laughs.
“Why?”
“You can’t commit.”
“Of course I can. I’m committed to you already.”
“Come to think of it, you never told me why you don’t like commitment.”
I take both her hands in mine, forcing her to turn toward me as we talk. “You mean why I didn’t like commitment, past tense.”
She shrugs.
“My mom cheated on my dad for years. It broke him. After a while, he knew about it, and he stayed with her anyway. I had to slowly watch him break.”
“I’m so sorry, Ethan.”
“I swore I would never let that happen to me.”
“I won’t break you,” she says.
“I know.”
“But I can’t get married.”
“Why?”
What am I missing here?
“For one, I was just engaged like two months ago to someone else,” she says.
“I thought we got past all that. That we are both going in the same direction. And we are in love.”
“We are.”
“Then what am I missing?”
“I’ll tell you what,” she says, her voice still light and friendly. “If we are still together in a year, let’s talk about it. Okay?”
“If? A year? Are you planning our breakup?”
“No, no, of course not. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound so pessimistic. When we are together in a year, let’s talk about it. Okay?”
“One year?” I confirm.
She nods. I can tell she’s still not taking this seriously. But I don’t care. She’s given me a date, and I’m not about to let her back out now.
