Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Chad glanced over at his concerned stepfather who had clearly witnessed Chad’s hard visceral reaction to Ducky. A truth Chad had never shared with his father or Tristan before. The rawness of emotion had Chad lifting a hand toward the screen. “I don’t think… That’s not Ducky. What happened to him?”
Tristan turned toward the laptop before his confused gaze flipped back to Chad as if questioning his sanity. Luckily, Kai’s over-the-top personality took the room and Tristan’s attention, giving Chad a moment to recover. He sat back in his seat, bringing the ice-cold water bottle with him. He chugged long swallows.
What had Ducky done to himself? After hours on the phone, both speaking and texting, why the hell hadn’t he told him about the changes? Given Chad some sort of heads up? That wasn’t cool at all. He swiped a damp, clammy hand over his face, praying that the strain in his shorts would end soon. He never knew for sure where Ducky was concerned.
CHAPTER 5
The bright lights and competing sounds coming from every direction drowned out everything else, even the drumming in Ducky’s ears as he stood on stage, staring at Jim Carey’s video. His fingers hurt from the death grip he held them fisted in while tucked in his pants pockets. A last second adjustment he made while walking out on the stage, maybe better than holding his hands so tightly in front of his jacket for the world to see, but otherwise, it worked just like Dallas said. He wasn’t fidgeting and he didn’t think he had embarrassed himself or StreamTrainer too badly. They’d been right: Ben handled everything. Even making a show of helping Ducky read his first lines to the laughter of both the crowd and Ducky himself.
Ben’s elbow knocked him in the arm. “You were fire out there.”
Ducky only rolled his eyes and gave an almost nonexistent shake of the head. “Kindling maybe.”
It took a second for Ben to get his joke before looking at him and busting out with uncontrolled laughter. “There you go, buddy. I knew you had it in you.”
Normally, when someone gave Ducky a good-natured whack on the back, he’d be sent stumbling forward a step or two. But not this time. He was stronger now. More muscular. That made him feel good too.
The video ended, the screen darkened, and in unison, they turned back toward the audience where he could literally see nothing past the bright spotlights. Ben ended their segment to a rousing applause to Sonic which was damn cool to Ducky.
Finally, the coolness of the moment settled in. The seven or eight seconds of walking off the stage were about the best moments of his life to date. He took in the fragrance of the air. How did they know exactly what gaming smelled like?
All that anxiety for nothing. Just like the entire journey, from being given the opportunity to present an award today, to transforming his body and appearance so he didn’t embarrass himself too badly, to actually being on this stage, it all fell into a good place.
Ducky was his own problem, always getting in his way of adapting and managing life.
Wow. What a revelation.
Ducky’s relief flooded out in the form of a grin when he saw Dallas and Greer waiting in the distance then heading his way. The rush and clamor of the backstage pandemonium no longer involved him. He had to shuffle a few steps to get out of the way of the new presenters while shrugging out of the tight fit of the suit coat. The thing about these glove-like fitting clothes was that they wore like a second skin. They had no give. He could always feel them on his body.
Getting out of these clothes seemed the only thing he could concentrate on and immediately started to work the silk tie from his neck. Ben whacked him on the back again, this time catching him off guard, knocking him forward a step. What was with all this back whacking stuff?
“See ya round, bud. Send me one of the boxes everybody’s talking about.” Ben winked at Ducky. He had that charismatic thing down that Ducky wished he had. A personality that easily put a smile on people’s faces. Not the quizzical looks Ducky usually got when he tried to be charming. Maybe that was what he needed to work on next. It seemed insurmountable.
“You did it. How do you feel?” Greer asked, drawing him into a hug. Dallas was right there beside him. Ducky was lost in all the goodness of the moment, and his hands were crunched between him and Greer as he got the fatherly bearhug.
“It was good. All that freak out was for nothing,” he admitted, his finger still loosening the single tie knot as he stared up at the darkened rafters in the ceiling. Ducky was the same height as Greer but had to cast his glance up to look at Dallas. They shared so many of the same features. The same whiskey-colored eyes sparkled with happiness—something new for the both of them.