The Speed of Love

Chapter 1

Every Friday morning at work I have a routine. I sit at my desk and type up the bills from the week to send out to customers so we can all get paid. While I'm doing this task of upmost importance I eat my favorite lazy person cookies, Chips Ahoy Candy Blasts with a glass of milk. It's such a nutritious breakfast, I know. My employees know not to touch my cookies unless I give them permission so when my best friend, James, reaches for a cookie I have every right to smack his hand.

"Aye, Ryan. You're so mean. I just want a cookie." James cries. "By the way, some guy is asking for you specifically."

I look through the window above my desk that allows me to see the front counter and I notice that there is indeed some guy waiting for something. "Do not touch my cookies." I threaten James and do the fingers to my eyes to pointing at him thing to prove that I'm watching him. "You're looking for me?" I ask the random guy once I get behind the counter.

He turns to face me and I forget how to breathe for a minute. This guy is straight out of GQ or Armani or something. Definitely not human. "Are you Ryan?" He asks like he doesn't believe it. His green eyes meet mine and I'm tempted to tell him to get out of my shop before I do something along the lines of harassment. He's not hiding anything under the tight navy blue shirt he's wearing and from the look I got at his butt earlier, he doesn't skip leg day.

"Yeah, I'm Ryan." I say once I can remember how to speak. James quietly chuckles at me in the background and I see him reach for a cookie out of my peripheral vision. "James Mason Tyler! Don't you touch my fucking cookies!" I scream at him, while spinning around on my heels. He shoves the entire cookie into his mouth and then smiles at me smugly. "You are scum, James. SCUM!"

"Take care of the customer, boss." He mumbles through a full mouth.

I do my job and turn back around to face the sexiest guy I've ever met and offer up a sad attempt at a smile. I'm pissed about my cookie. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Um, I'm Parker. Connor told me to bring my car here. He said you're the best." The god like customer speaks.

"Connor. I haven't talked to him in like four years. I had a huge crush on him." My brain flashes through some memories of him. "So what do you need done?"

"I don't need it done, really. I want it done. I have an 89 s13 hatch that I want drift ready."

"That's exciting. Have you done anything to it yet?"

"It's got a 2JZ in it right now that I can't make run and I don't know how I feel about. I have a steering wheel for it, wheels for it, and it's been painted. I need the suspension done, steering stuff needs to be done, the motor needs to start running but I'm not sure I want to keep the 2J."

We discuss the entirety of the car basically then head out to the back of the shop where the boys are working. It's almost time for me to gather them and feed them lunch, but for now I'm showing Parker around. There are seven bays in the shop, two on the west wall, four on the south wall, and one on the east wall, along with rows of parking along the lot boundary. In the first bay on the west wall, my 95 Ford Lightning waits patiently for me to have time to get it ready for another drag race. The bay it's in houses the dyno. We don't use it much, but if we need to the Lightning is easy to move.

He walks around it and judges it. "It was my uncles, along with this shop. He put somewhere around 120,000 dollars into it." Parker doesn't seem impressed. In the next bay a 79 Chevrolet Custom C10 is on a lift waiting for me to finish the fuel lines on it. This guy's bill is over 80,000 already and the trucks only been here two weeks. In the first bay on the south wall is my Full Stock F-150 that's built up to regulation for the off-road racing series here. My favorite item though race season just ended last weekend.