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)
Chapter 3
The sudden hammering of Dallas’s racing heart had him halting in midmotion of hooking his leg over the seat of his stationary bike. What if this was it? What if they had it wrong? The chaos running rampant through his head made him retreat, stepping back a few feet to put some distance between him and the bike. His heart threatened to pound straight out of his chest.
Dallas had to get a hold of himself.
Hell, he had to catch his breath before he passed the fuck out. He had to somehow shake off the fear of everything that could go wrong. If he didn’t, he would most certainly crash and burn tonight. Fail in what might be the most important night of his life. This could change their future. Tonight, could be the start of something big for all of them.
Dallas looked down at his sweaty, shaking palms before he clenched his fists tightly.
He forced a deep cleansing breath to settle his addled nerves.
With a dramatic flair, he gave an exaggerated shoulder shimmy to loosen his tight muscles and to shake off any bad juju before rolling his eyes at his own superstitious actions. Whether it would make a difference in the whole scheme of things wasn’t certain, but the silliness somehow settled him by a fraction of an inch. The magnitude of how badly he wanted BikeBro to succeed took his constant state of low-level anxiety and sent it skyrocketing into the stratosphere.
Dallas knew their reality. The understanding had been dancing around the edges of his thoughts all afternoon. They were at their end. If this didn’t work, they’d have to put their baby on the auction block, selling to the highest bidder. They had no other choice.
The deep sadness at the idea of losing their company came second only to the fear of not finding a buyer willing to pay them enough to cover their enormous debt. He saw nothing more than complete financial ruin in his life.
Maybe he should go back to teaching and let Ducky and Donny handle BikeBro. It would give them more cash to funnel into their business. He had a good list of clients at the gym. The two jobs might help save their small company…
“Calm your ass down and get on the bike,” Dallas said aloud, forcing his head back into the moment. “Focus. You’re not losing anything. It’s fucking Secret. This is the break we needed.”
“What?” Donny asked by way of a bark. Dallas looked over to see his brother’s image in the prototype mirror now affixed to his bedroom wall, one of the now four full length mirrors ready to manufacture if they did in fact find an investor.
Shit. He’d forgotten about how Ducky’s latest upgrade had them automatically connected to one another anytime the mirror was powered on. “Ignore me.” Dallas pushed his uncertainty away.
Donny was the focused and driven one, determined in everything he did. Ducky was always a tad bit weird and misunderstood. Dallas had his feet firmly planted on the ground. He understood the importance of a balanced life while fading into the background, going unnoticed as much as possible.
He craved peace, which somehow landed him in the middle of many arguments between the people he loved as he tried to calm everyone down. He’d learned long ago to never let his true feelings be known, because they didn’t really matter. He doubted anyone in his life understood the anxiety he lived under every single day.
“Focus, Dallas.” Donny’s unyielding tone pierced the silence. “You must be your best tonight. No room for failure. Head in the game. This is everything.” His brother’s intended pep-talk fell flat with the aggression lacing his tone.
“He knows that.” Ducky’s image appeared in the mirror, splitting the screen, one image on top of the other. His youngest brother looked concerned.
Ducky’s image left the screen, causing Donny to toss his hands in the air. “Why did you leave your computer? What the hell’s going on with you two? We have five minutes before Skye goes live.”
“Ignore him, Dallas,” Ducky said from down the hall. Seconds later, Ducky appeared in his bedroom doorway, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked worried. “You’re on a new profile. Your personal information isn’t connected, and you’re locked to private. I tested it myself. No one can see you have the same background as your training videos, and I added an avatar. The new emojis are ready to launch after the session is over. We’re good. I promise.”
“Thanks, Ducky. You’ve done a really good job on everything,” Dallas said, taking another deep breath, looking over at his twin mattress pushed against the wall so the room looked more like an exercise room than a bedroom. Dallas worked to emotionally slip back behind his long-established walls to keep himself hidden. He went back to the bike and mounted the seat. “I’m good. I promise. Go get ready.”