eventually sell the mirrors,” Ducky said excitedly.
“Absolutely. Then we could sell bikes, row machines, interactive exercise mats,” Cari added, saying all the things Dallas had been too afraid to speak aloud.
“Right now, let’s just focus on the original plan,” Donny cut in. He always had a way of making sure their excitement remained tamed.
Their original idea had been a simple device that turned any stationary bicycle into a social exercise machine. Its name: BikeBro.
“Did you get my text?” Donny pointed to a device, the size of a small streaming box, sitting between the two handles, duct-taped to the center of the bar.
“Is that an Amazon TV box?” Dallas asked.
“Yeah. I used the components. I’m connected through Bluetooth and can see everything perfectly. I taped my cell phone to the handlebar. It tracks my heart rate and motion spin. Ducky and I can work tomorrow on building a prototype to incorporate it all into one device.”
Donny was an ex-military computer hardware specialist who came home to a job in the IT department at a local hospital. It was where he’d met Cari. Though Donny’s six-foot height towered over her five foot nothing, she fit her husband perfectly.
“And I can see you great by the way, very clear.” Cari gave him a bright smile.
Dallas took a closer look at her setup. She had the same style black box strapped to her cycle.
“Cari, you’re signed in through the social network. Did it open properly?” he asked, continuing to slowly pedal.
“Yeah, it’s a tedious sign-in process while on the bike,” Cari answered, pushing herself back on the seat, mirroring Dallas’s stance, pedaling just enough to stay connected.
“I gotta work on that too.” Ducky turned back to his computer, clearly done with the excitement of the moment. After sitting behind the dual monitors on his desk, he reached for his noise canceling headphones, ready to drown them all out. “And also work on the interface. We gotta look like we know what we’re doing so y’all can find investors.”
Dallas’s cell phone alarm rang again. Shit, he had forty-five minutes to get through forty minutes of rush hour traffic. “I gotta go. Keep working and text me how it’s going.”
“Recruit us an instructor,” Cari called out. “See if Skye’s still interested.”
“Set up a meeting with the gym’s owners. We need investors,” Donny called out.
Dallas agreed both were needed. He had no choice but to leave the bike, waving at his brother and sister in-law as the images faded from the screen.
Their need for cash was a growing problem. Ducky hadn’t worked in four months. Dallas had to dig into his savings each month to pay Ducky’s portion of the bills while his brother dedicated more than full-time hours to making their dream come true.
Ducky moved one headphone off his ear and turned to look at Dallas over his shoulder. “I was thinking the mirror doesn’t necessarily have to be a new mirror/monitor from us. We could create an overlay film that can cling or hook on to any mirror. It would stick with the theme of BikeBro. The customer can use what they already own at home to get a professional workout.”
“Sounds reasonable. Whichever’s cheapest to produce,” Dallas said, grabbing a couple bottles of water from the refrigerator and placing them in his backpack. “I’ve got room on some credit cards and a new client starting at the gym who plans to train four days a week. Work on the best option for the mirror and check out Donny’s box. See if it’s truly as usable as it looks.”
“If we have to go to the bank for money, would I have to wear a suit? You know I don’t like dressing up. The clothes never fit right.”
Dallas had to mash his lips together to keep from laughing out loud as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. There was no world where he would ever put his younger brother in front of any financial investor. Ducky was barely fit company for Dallas, and they were related.
“Lock the door after I leave,” Dallas instructed and pointed to the ceiling. “And keep the noise down. She called in a complaint last night.”
“My bad,” Ducky said, distracted, clearly not caring in the least.
Dallas rolled his shoulders, loosening the tension that had started collecting there anytime they talked about finances. Surely something as simple as money wouldn’t stand in their way.
Chapter 2
March, nine months later
“They fuckin’ turned us down again,” Donny snarled angrily as he crossed the threshold into Dallas’s