“No backing out now, Sullivan.” Ryan readjusts the travel bag on his arm as my eyes are drawn from Duke to him.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. Come on in.”
“I think Duke needs some time to get acclimated first.” He squats down to give the dog a thorough petting. “All right, buddy, we may have been kidnapped and forced here against our will, but I’m sure we can survive for a few days.”
“Nice. And here I was thinking I did a good deed for everyone involved.”
“I told you she was self-righteous, didn’t I?” he says to Duke. “Don’t worry. We’ll persevere.”
“You know what? How about the dog stays and you go become a subway dweller? You’d probably thrive in one of those underground communities.”
“You think so?” Ryan asks, standing up with a smile.
“I’m fairly positive. You seem normal on the outside, but below the surface I bet there’s a charismatic cult leader just waiting to burst free.”
“I appreciate your train of thought but I think I’ll tough it out in here for now. We wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”
I imagine punching Ryan right in the face. “Okay, well, you have five seconds. Come in or don’t. I’ll survive either way.”
“This is going to be a long few days, Duke.” Ryan walks into the apartment with his portly but adorable dog trotting along in his wake and I shut the door behind them. He’s passing my bike that’s dangling low from a bamboo rack, which also doubles as my entryway table, when he suddenly stops short.
“No way,” he says. “You still bike?”
“Of course,” I answer. He dings the bike bell and I feel a certain level of motherly pride. Not to be creepy, but I couldn’t love my bike any more than if she had actually come from my own body. A turquoise three-speed, she has café-style handlebars and a silver rear rack that matches the heavy-duty front wire basket. She’s smooth and whimsical with endless character and I will never give her up. Her name is Calliope—Callie for short.
“How often do you take her out?” he asks.
“A couple times a week. Mainly to the grocery store or my friend’s apartment. On nice days I go to Central Park.”
He grips one of the handlebars, shaking his head to himself and smiling in earnest. “This is you in bike form. It’s awesome.” He walks through after that and I’m a little surprised by his reaction.
I’ve loved biking ever since I was young and that love stayed with me all through college. I’d even fixed up an old seven-speed that I got cheap online and gave it to Ryan as a birthday present when we first started dating. I always figured he went out riding with me to appease me, but maybe he enjoyed it more than I thought.
Following him and Duke into the living room, I have to say that a bulldog makes the space seem even cozier. I wonder if Ryan would let me borrow him for a few of my posts. Books and dogs are an irresistible Insta combo.
“I like the name Duke,” I soon tell him.
“Thanks. I couldn’t change it now even if I wanted to. I spent too much money on monograming.”
Inadvertently, my mind travels back to the romance novel Ryan stole from me the first day we met. “You didn’t name him afterThe Devilish Duke, did you?”
Ryan places his bag down beside the couch and glances around the room before turning back to face me.
“Not really. Fond as that memory is, my sister was with me when I adopted this guy and she helped me name him. She goes to Duke University.”
“Oh, cool.” For the record, I’m super-psyched I made it blatantly clear that I remember the title of the book that started our relationship. I would hate for Ryan to think that I moved on or anything.
Anxious to change the subject, I walk deeper into the room and ask, “How long was the drive up from North Carolina?”
“It was a little over nine hours.”
“That’s rough. I can barely make it to Long Island without feeling sick.”
“Well, if you still drive like you did in college, I’m not surprised. I think at top speed you only ever went thirty miles an hour.”
“I’m a defensive driver.”
“You’re an old-lady hunchback driver.”
