One night The Real World Brooklyn roommates went out clubbing and enjoyed some drinking and dancing. Ryan Conklin and Baya Voce did a little friendly dancing together until Ryan starting feeling guilty about it. That's because Ryan had a girlfriend, Belle, back in Pennsylvania, and he didn't want to do anything that would appear like he wasn't totally faithful to her.However, instead of just sitting down at that moment or going to the restroom, Ryan gave Baya a verbal slap down by stopping and saying "I have a girlfriend." Girls and some guys understand that that is a bad line to use in those circumstances. It heavily implies that the girl is deliberately trying to steal someone's man.
Baya naturally took offense at this because she knew that she would never try to do such a thing. She was upset with Ryan and later that night let him know about it. After they returned house, Ryan and Baya had discussion about what he had said. Ryan eventually figured out from Baya's reaction that what he had said was wrong and he tried to explain to her why he would say something inappropriate like that.
Ryan's main response was, "I got scared," and "I just get nervous." His point was that being in his first relationship, he wasn't sure what the boundaries were and because he found himself having a good time with another girl, he had an immediate fearful reaction to stop.
To show his remorse to Baya and to show that now he got it, Ryan called himself a "douche", but went on to say, "I don't know how to talk to girls, period!" He explained that in the Army infantry, he had gone several years of his young life without being around women. "The only thing I ever saw was a beer can and my friends, who were guys."
Baya was unable to resist the Ryan Conklin charm and forgave him. Ryan then teased her by asking if she at least found him to be attractive. Not wanting to go there again, she just settled on telling him we was one of her favorite people in the house. Like somewhere in her top seven.
Interestingly, it was Sarah Rice who later analyzed Ryan as having his social growth stunted by being away from regular society during important formative years. It provides insight into Ryan's occasional adolescent behavior and his being more comfortable with his buddies than the females.
