The road trip ended in a loss. That night, the team flew straight back to Iron City.
It was past midnight when they landed. Ryan dragged his luggage back to his apartment, washed up, and dropped onto his bed — but he didn't sleep. He pulled out his phone and started scrolling.
The buzz from that ad still hadn't died down.
The hashtag #CatDadRyan was still trending. The replies were a circus. Someone had stitched a screenshot of him throwing down a vicious dunk next to a frame from the ad, him cradling the cat, captioned: "Same guy??" Another solemnly noted that "his cat-holding technique is very professional." The top comment, with the most likes, was a single line: "Motion to rename them the Cat City Roarers."
Ryan rolled his eyes, tossed the phone aside, and called it a night.
—
The next morning, Ryan woke up and met Chloe for breakfast.
