“Wild_Rider came close to kicking his butt, and Dallas spends hours a day working out.” Dallas’s inner motivating voice really appreciated Ducky’s commentary much more than Skye’s. Ducky sounded in awe compared to Skye’s clearly teasing tone. “Chad’s calling!”
“So soon? No way!” Skye jumped off her bike and yelled to the mirror, “I’m coming over.”
“Dallas, go in there right now.” Donny’s voice startled him. He’d thought his brother had ended the session. Clearly, Donny had found a new function in their equipment if he could stay connected through audio only. “Don’t leave this to Ducky.”
He had no idea how effective he would be at talking business with anyone right now. He needed recovery time after such a devastating workout.
It didn’t really matter. Today had taught him that Ducky was the mastermind behind most of their accomplishments. His younger brother managed all their growth through social media while he continued to fine-tune BikeBro’s programming and edit every one of their YouTube videos. More importantly, Ducky had created their company-saving financial opportunity. Ducky wasn’t near as inept as Donny always implied.
Dallas resisted the urge to put Donny on blast. He’d pick his time to defend their younger brother. “I’ll call you when we hang up.”
Now all he had to do was get off the bike. Dallas carefully lowered a foot to the floor, encouraged when it held some of his body weight. “Dallas! His father wants to talk to you.”
Oh hell, he wasn’t ready.
Dallas took his water bottle, tossing back his head to squirt a good mouthful of water inside then hooked his other leg over the bike. The few steps he took toward the living room were shaky, but he found his land legs as he went over the essential talking points in his head.
What were their goals?
Going nationwide.
Get the mirror patented.
Cash. They needed revenue. The most important part to all this.
When he turned the corner into the living room, his apartment door flew open. Skye lived in their complex, two buildings over. Ducky’s dual monitors were filled with Dylan Reeves and Tristan Wilder on one side. They were local celebrities in the DFW area, he’d know their faces anywhere. The other monitor showed a younger version of Dylan, chatting quietly with Ducky.
Dallas grabbed a towel off a folded stack of clean laundry sitting on the countertop and ran it over his face and short wet hair.
“I told them you were the lead rider and exhausted,” Ducky said, eagerly looking over his shoulder at Dallas. Ducky pushed out an old office chair, another dumpster-dive treasure they’d found last year. Skye grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and came toward them.
“Who was number two? You two had a strong competition going,” Dylan asked, looking directly at Dallas.
“He’s a corporate account of ours with a wild competitive streak,” Skye answered for him. She lifted a hand and waved at all three men. “I’m Skye. I work for them.”
“I was watching the active members and the chatter going on. Even those not participating were absorbed in watching you two through the leaderboard. It was a great class,” Tristan complimented. If his and Dylan’s rumpled, sweat-soaked appearance was any indicator, they too had been active members of the class.
“I’m Dylan Reeves, by the way. This is my husband, Tristan. My son Chad’s on the feed too.”
“Hey,” Chad said, lifting his chin in greeting.
Dallas again ran the towel over his wet head and squirted a small amount of water inside his dry mouth, thankful his breathing had returned to normal even as his heart thumped excitedly in his chest.
“I’m Duncan, but everyone calls me Ducky. This is my brother, Dallas, and Skye. You met her. She’s like a sister to us. She’s an instructor and a personal trainer like Dallas,” Ducky explained. “We call our instructors trainers. You know, it makes us different that way.”
Skye’s brows rose as she glanced at Dallas, her surprise clear. Ducky rarely spoke to people, and even less when Skye was around.
“Chad’s told us you’re a small start-up out of Dallas. That’s Secret’s hometown. I started Secret in my home office in North Dallas when the kids were young,” Dylan reflected. “Looking back, those were some really incredible years as I destroyed our savings and maxed out every credit card I could get my hands on.” Dylan’s musings had just given BikeBro validity as a business by describing the exact desperation of their current situation.
Hope prevailed. How long had it been since Dallas had been hopeful?
“That’s how I started Wilder too,” Tristan added. “My parents took out a second mortgage on their home. I was fifteen years old at the time. They really took a chance on me.” Wilder was the most used search engine in the world. A few years ago, Wilder had purchased Secret to become the leader in social media platforms. Together, they had veered off into interactive technologies, making another name for themselves in artificial intelligence.
To know neither would be here today if it weren’t for a savings account and second mortgage blew his mind. Dallas sat up a little straighter out of respect for who sat across the screen from him. “That’s pretty much where we are. Ducky’s responsible for the technology development. He’s got a real knack for it. He also monitors the social media site to make sure everyone’s following the rules. Our older brother, Donny, handles the design and production. I’m running the classes with Skye. We’ve also started a YouTube channel. We currently have a nice number of orders on back list, waiting for the boxes to arrive any day now. Our supplier is a small company in West Texas.”
“This was all Dallas’s idea,” Ducky added proudly, looking over at him. “He taught physical education at an elementary school in Grand Prairie where we grew up. He became a personal trainer. They both are.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder toward Skye. “I think I might’ve said that.”
“Chad told us you have more than just the BikeBro box. That the social network went live a few months ago and tonight was the introduction to the new leaderboard. I like how participants can go live and stay shadowed as they ride. Privacy’s important. It was surprising how personal the class felt. That’s hard to do while you’re alone in your house with just a monitor,” Dylan said, turning serious.
“That’s Ducky’s vision and Skye’s ability. She can pull the most out of the participants. She’s great,” Dallas explained, letting the praise be placed where it should.
“I need some time, but I’m coming to Dallas at the end of the week for about a week,” Dylan said, and Tristan looked at him like he’d lost his mind.
“I thought it was a turnaround trip,” Tristan said.
“It was, but things changed.” Dylan looked at his son who had remained quiet for much of the call. “Chad’s having a ceremony and celebration. He’s passed his golf pro test. We’re so proud of him.”
Tristan completely ignored them, staring at Dylan with a clear what the hell look. Whatever the problem, he didn’t appear to be on the same page as Dylan and didn’t plan to ever be there by the look of things. Tristan’s brows finally slid together, and he pushed back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest, moving away from the screen. Was he…pouting?