“You’re a good brother. You never gave up on me,” Ducky whispered, unscrewing the cap to the water bottle.
“There’s nothing to give up on.”
Ducky seriously doubted that and took one small drink then another. The cool water was precisely what he needed. It gave him the second he needed to regroup and quench his dry throat.
“Schwartz?” a runner called from the edge of the curtain a few feet away. “You and Reigns are on deck.”
“Go be brilliant,” Dallas said confidently, taking the water bottle with one hand, the other sliding around Ducky’s shoulders, turning him toward the stage. “Follow the monitor and keep your hands together. It’s all gonna be fine. Don’t take it too seriously. Remember every moment while you’re out there so you can tell me about it. I’ll be here waiting.”
Dallas gave him a little shove between the shoulder blades when he didn’t readily move forward before Ducky found the courage to take the rest of the steps on his own. This was a life-changing moment… He’d prepared… Not the same scared kid…
He’d never been too sure about his spiritual beliefs, but right then, he decided he believed in everything. Surely if he said a prayer to it all, something had to stick.
The energy in the room vibrated with an excitement that transcended all the worry and bad mood hanging over Chad for the last couple of weeks. Wilder never skimped on any promotion and that included going hard on the new rollout for Wilder Sports. Every minute of the weekend’s itinerary was meticulously planned. Full of public relations events designed to entice the full scope of media to follow each step of the way.
Tristan had conceded and done what Chad had requested, using Kai as the first athlete to launch Wilder Sports. It hadn’t even been much of an argument, probably due to the overwhelming fact that Chad’s performance on tour had left him ranked dead last in the averages. So low that his world ranking average put him at risk of losing his spot in the PGA. He’d once been a bright star, zipping through the ranks. Now his outlook was nothing more than a darkening ember with little hope of recovery. At least, not anytime soon. Sports news was abuzz with his complete failure in the PGA. Woo-freaking-hoo.
Chad didn’t let himself dwell, scooting right past that blistering thought. Tristan and Kai signed their respective contracts while on-air live with the brand-new Wilder Sports Podcast.
After Tristan finished signing and tossed the ink pen on the table, a giant grin split his face. He leaned over, taking one of several duffel bags from the floor beside his chair. They were full of the new WS logoed gear for Kai and his entourage that sat around the small room. Tristan tossed each person a full duffel bag.
They were also live streaming the event on the homepage of the Wilder search engine—something they’d never done before in the history of the company. Today, and today only, anytime anyone from around the world searched on Wilder, the screen opened to this live stream. Millions and millions of people were watching Wilder introduce the newest venture added to the many enterprises Tristan owned. A chat feed ran the length of the right side of the screen.
Chad and the group sat side by side at a small, round table. It was compact, but large enough for the six of them. Each had their own microphone. Two laptops sat on the table about a foot away. The overall design was made to look intimate, fresh, and budgeted.
After the signing, Kai, Chad, and the guys were going live on Twitch for a couple of hours to watch The Game Show Awards. Of course, rights and infringements didn’t allow Wilder to air the show, all they could do was give commentary, but Tristan had gone over the allotted time with the contracts—the man was never on time. Now they were performing double duty of live streaming on both the show and the contract signing at the same time.
“This is fire,” Kai said and started pulling out all the promotional items from the duffle bag. “Blue’s my color.”
“Chad…” Tristan started then lowered his voice. “Not to put you on the spot…” Tristan chuckled and couldn’t hold Chad’s direct confused stare as his laughter grew. He slid two blue Wilder Sports embossed folders toward him. They were different style folders than Kai’s. Designed for privacy. The move seemed calculated while the others were distracted, yet everything they did was being seen by so many people on the stream.
“You take your time with this one.” Tristan patted the top folder. “It’s open until you decide what you want to do. You earned this decision. We’re here because of you. I just wanted to make it official. If it’s an easy one for you, we can broadcast the change today. It’s the reason your father isn’t with us now.”
Tristan lifted a hand, giving a fatherly squeeze to Chad’s shoulder as Kai stood, pulling the surfer shirt over his head. Chad ignored all the hoopla and the gazillion hearts rising from the bottom of the screen, and lifted the folder from the bottom edge, blocking anything inside from being seen.
He didn’t expect this. Far, far from it.
It wasn’t the professional sponsorship he assumed. Instead, he’d been offered the executive role of senior vice president of the newly formed Wilder Sports, Inc. He scanned down the list of responsibilities, which was long and thorough, to the obscenely high salary at the bottom. It took a second to register the seven-figure income, including salary, bonuses, and various other incentives. His heart did a weird twist before his gaze trailed back up the document again, taking a closer look at the responsibilities.
The program was his to be run as he saw fit.
His gaze collided with Tristan’s who then busted out with a genuine laugh which Chad took to mean he must look as stunned and blindsided as he felt. “You earned it. This weekend’s yours.”
“Dude, Ducky’s on.” Kai knocked Chad in the chest as he toppled back down into his seat to watch their friend. The three of them—Kai, Ducky, and Chad—had originally met on Twitch years ago while playingLeague of Legendstogether.
Ducky. Probably the only thing that could have made Chad turn away from the astounding offer Tristan surprised him with. His gaze riveted to Ducky. Everything in the room faded as Ducky grinned at something Ben Schwartz said to the audience. The smile was genuine, sincere, and one of Ducky’s most captivating qualities.
Ducky’s smile held Chad transfixed for a split second before a ton of bricks landed on his chest, his brain finally catching up to what he was seeing. The weight of the conflicting emotions brought him to his knees—figuratively speaking. The sound of blood rushing through his veins to supply his galloping heart deafened Ducky’s words. The edge of his peripheral vision dimmed. His focus locked on the gorgeous man on screen. The world narrowed to only him and Ducky. His primal instincts flipped the fuck out.
His cock punched against his cargo shorts, demanding to be set free. Heat flooded his face and spread through his body like wildfire. The man of his dreams had transformed into the man of his wet dreams. Motherfucker. What the hell had happened to Ducky?
When did that happened? He was stunning. Ducky looked like a hotter version of his older brother. Who knew that handsome face lurked under all that hair?
Ducky cut his hair… A defensive side leapt to the forefront, causing Chad’s brow to crease. A protectiveness exclusive to Ducky had him resisting his own reaction.
Ducky was perfect the way he was. Who had made him do this?
“What happened to Ducky?” Chad murmured quietly, shaking his head, wishing Ducky knew that Chad had always thought he was beautiful the way he was.
