Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“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?
“That’s a hard test. Congratulations,” Dallas said, ignoring Tristan like everyone else seemed to be doing. Dallas had trained several golfers preparing for the brutal ability test. Many never scored high enough to make the move into professional. Chad’s was a sizable accomplishment.
“Thanks. I want to invest in this, Dad. I think it’s a good idea. Ducky was telling me they have an interactive mirror. They already have a prototype, and they’re working on something that can affix to an existing mirror. That’s their thing. They want to eventually sell equipment, but right now their focus is on turning any piece of exercise equipment into a trainer by using their boxes. Isn’t that right, Ducky?” Chad waited for Ducky’s confirmation. When he nodded, Chad said the words Dallas wanted desperately to hear. “What’s it gonna take to get in on this? I have a small trust fund.”