[Ryan]

It was Sunday afternoon and I was busy washing my car. Just like I did every Sunday. I have gotten more and more obsessive about taking care of my car. It has been pointed out to me by multiple people and I am the first to admit that they are right. I don’t care though. It helps to fill the hole in my life. When I am done with the washing and waxing, clearing and detailing, I’ll go out and drive for the rest of the day. Probably stop outside of town somewhere for dinner and get home late. There is no one here to wait up for me.

I kept her clean and shiny, partly because I wanted her to always look her best. People would come over and ask me about the car and want to look all the time. I used to do car shows and things, but I’m not really into that anymore. The truth is that I do it just for myself now. It helps a little with the pain and the missing parts of my life.

The last step was polishing the chrome along the front and back. Modern cars use all plastic, aluminum, and fiberglass to lower cost and weight. Even for things like bumpers. You just bump something and they break or crumple. But not mine. This was a heavily modified 1969 with real steel and chrome throughout. I bump something, and it will not even leave a scratch. Sure, the modern materials lowers weight which helps gas mileage, but this car wasn’t about gas mileage. And since I don’t have modern safety equipment like air bags, anti-lock brakes, and backup cameras, that saves me a lot of weight. And besides, I liked how it looked.

I was just about done and finishing up the chrome in the back when a car pulled up in front of the house. I glanced over and saw two men get out of the car. Ok, it wasn’t a car. It was a black Ford Expedition SUV with dark tinted windows. Both men were wearing suits and heading my way. I didn’t know who they were, but I had a feeling that their visit was not a good thing.

“Hello. I am detective Johnson and this is detective Chen.” This was from the tall white guy with the military haircut. The other one was shorter and obviously part Asian. They both flashed a badge. “Are you Mr. Evans?” I just nodded my head to confirm and waited to see what they wanted. “We are investigating a series of homicides and we appreciate your assistance.”

“Of course. Whatever I can do to help.” While I talked with Johnson, I noticed that Chen was walking around my car and seemed to be checking it out. People were always checking her out, but this was different. This made me strangely nervous and I tried to keep an eye on him, without being obvious about it. I may not have succeeded.

“Mr. Evans?” Detective Johnson was saying. I suddenly realized that he had probably been speaking to me.

“Sorry, what was that?” I responded after snapping my eyes back to him. The detective looked at me for a moment, then I saw him glance over at his partner by my car. Some kind of look passed between them.

“We are going to take you in on suspicion of murder. Anything you say can and will be used against you...” The detective went on about my rights while he cuffed me and pushed me into the black SUV. As we drove off I looked back at my car until it was out of sight. This is not how I wanted to spend my Sunday at all.

[Sally]

I worked the microfiber towel across the front quarter panel, removing the dried paste. I started at the top and worked my way down, being sure to be thorough. After reaching the bottom I went back to the top and began buffing with a clean towel. I didn’t hurry, just taking my time. Keeping my touch light and bringing out the shine. I went over it again to check for any areas that needed extra buffing. I rebuffed a couple spots until I was happy with it and could see my own reflection on the surface.

I enjoyed this part. I really did. Running my hands over that perfect body. The light rubbing. The glossy shine. There was something a little erotic about it. And of course it was an excuse to spend time with my man. This was one of our traditions for Sunday afternoons. We used to spend Sunday’s working on the car all day. But now we spend time together cleaning and doing maintenance before we take it out for a drive.

I checked out Ryan on the other side of the car to see his progress. He was working the rear quarter panel now. Applying the paste carefully that I would later be removing and buffing. He was a little under 6 foot with short brown hair. He was not a muscular guy. I suppose you would describe him as wiry. He could be really goofy sometimes and annoying with geek trivia. But most importantly, he was all mine.

I was going to the university, working towards a business degree. I had never really dated anyone, either at the university or in high school. I wasn’t gay or anything. I just wasn’t interested in a relationship. You might say I was a tomboy. I didn’t dress girly or do my hair up or wear make up. I loved hunting, fishing, cars, and sports. I hung out with lots of guys and did parties from time to time. I hooked up with guys when someone struck my fancy and I needed my itch scratched. I would take them to my dorm and screw them and then kick them out to the curb. And if any of them took liberties that I didn’t give them, then well lets just say that they never tried it twice. And after I dealt with the first couple, word got around and they knew not to mess with me.

I was in my third year there when I ran into Ryan at a Friday night party. I had just gotten a fresh beer when I unexpectedly came face to face with him. I found myself staring into his eyes for a second before he looked away and apologized. I didn’t say a word as I watched him walk off. That brief look into his eyes stunned me. I had felt a connection that shot through me and left me dumb and stupid. I must have looked like an idiot staring at him like that. It was no wonder he got away from me as quickly as he could.

I had never felt anything like that and couldn’t get him out of my mind. When I finally started thinking, I went looking for him. I searched the whole house and the grounds outside but didn’t find him. I had apparently scared him off so badly he had left. I wasn’t going to give up easily though, a good hunter is persistent. I spent the next several weeks trying to find out who he was. He was an engineering major in his senior year. I began to stalk him like a skittish deer. What were his classes, who were his friends, where did he work?

I had to come up with some way to land him. I could not treat him like the boys I hung out with, they were friends. And I could not treat him like the boys I brought to my dorm for a fling. I had a feeling that would scare him off. And I wasn’t interested in a one night stand. I needed something a lot more and I was willing to wait for it. But not wait too long.

I approached him one day after one of his classes and introduced myself. I explained that I was having trouble with my math course and the professor had recommended that Ryan might be able to assist me. Ok, I lied through my teeth. I was getting a B+ in the class and the professor had not recommended anything. But it worked. Ryan agreed to spend some time helping me with some of the homework assignments.

Four weeks later we were dating. And shortly after that we were inseparable. It turns out that Ryan felt the same way about me when we met at that first party. Since I had stood there like an idiot without saying a word, he had assumed that I was disgusted. He was so afraid of making a fool of himself that he immediately ducked out of the party and went home.

It changed us both. I started dressing more feminine to please Ryan. And he put more effort into his appearance for me. I even had to deal with one or two women that thought they could try poaching. I remember one big breasted bimbo hitting on him at a concert. She wasn’t making any progress with him of course, but when she went to the bathroom I followed her in. I made sure she left him alone after that.

So back to the car. I reviewed the status of the paste on the hood and found a few places that had not fully hazed up yet. I took the opportunity to walk around behind Ryan. He was focused on what he was doing and not paying me any mind just yet. Hmm ... he had such a cute little butt. I couldn’t help it, reached out and gave him a little tweak.

“Sally!”

“What? Ok, I’ll be good.” I reached my arms around him and pressed my breasts into his back. “I mean, I’ll be good in a minute.” I nuzzled the back of his neck and listened to Ryan let out a little sigh. It was a content sigh though. That made me smile. When I let him go he turned around and kissed me. He couldn’t grab me like he obviously wanted to because he still had the jar of paste in one hand and the applicator in the other.

“I’ll just put these down and then we can continue this properly.”

I stepped back from him quickly with an evil smile. “Oh look, the hood is ready. Back to work.” I turned and walked back around to the hood, listening to Ryan growling. I swayed my butt a little and looked back over my shoulder and gave Ryan a little smile. I loved the look in his eyes as he watched me.

We did our afternoon drive a few hours later. Ryan’s friends had originally assumed that this was his car, but it was really ours. Ryan had found the original donor body, but we had worked on it together after that. Some of dad’s friends helped with some of the heavy work and the machining when we had to make our own custom parts. Even then, we were both in the thick of it. We discussed our plans, options, costs, and customizations. It was a labor of love, with my love.

I was thinking about when we first decided to start the car project. It was Ryan’s idea. My father had passed away only three months after our wedding. A stupid warehouse accident with a forklift. He had lingered in the hospital for five days without regaining consciousness before he finally passed. I was completely torn up. I had been really close with dad growing up. I was the youngest, with three older brothers. I was a bit of a tomboy back then. I kind of still am I guess. Dad loved to work on cars. His own and his friends. Whenever I could I would be out in the garage helping him. My brothers would tease me, but dad would have me assisting him and show me everything he was doing and why. Mom thought it was just a phase and hoped I would grow out of it. But I never did.

He had a 1970 mustang fastback that he had restored. He had it painted black and blue. He babied that car and never let anyone else drive it. We talked about all kinds of things while we worked. Cars, motors, transmissions, motor oil. Even school and boys sometimes. On Sunday afternoon, after my seventeenth birthday, dad took me out for a drive. He pulled over and to my astonishment, he handed me the keys. He had never let my brothers, or anyone else drive that car. But he let me that afternoon. I was so happy I actually cried. He swore me to secrecy though, so my brothers would not be jealous. Two hours of driving that mustang with dad was probably the best present I had ever had.

My happiest memories were the days that I spent working on cars with dad. I shared all this with Ryan in those days after the funeral. He was the first person I ever told about driving dad’s car. After he had passed I wanted that car so bad, but mom gave it to my oldest brother Carl. I learned that he sold the car at an auction three months later. If I had known about the auction I would have done anything to scrape together the cash and buy it myself. I was so mad that I refused to speak to him. I probably still wouldn’t be speaking to him if it hadn’t been for Ryan.

Ok, Carl is not actually a bad person. He is actually a very giving person and he probably would have just given me the car if I actually told him how much I wanted it. I guess I assumed he wanted it as much as I did to remember dad. But Carl didn’t feel that way, to him it was just an old car. And he is a little stupid and apparently needed the money at the time.

It was about a month after I learned about the sale when Ryan showed up with a 1969 mustang fastback. On a trailer. The thing didn’t actually run and it looked like crap. But the frame was mostly sound.

Ryan shared the idea that we would work on the car as a project together. It would be a tribute to my dad. We spent the next three hours talking ideas and making plans. It would not be a traditional restoration. Rather we would use modern components and the classic body to build something totally unique. I loved that man with all my heart. Or at least I had thought so until that night when I realized I loved him ten times more. So I took him to bed and tried to kill him with sex.

That was three years ago and a lot of hard work and weekends. Ryan and I are more in love now than when we started this project. We have a car show lined up in a few weeks where we would show off all our hard work. I know that some people will think that what we have done is a crime and that we should have kept everything as close to the original as possible. But I know that there are a lot of others that will love it, just like we do. They are the ones that understand that the mustang was made to be customized and what we have done is just take that and totally run with it.

Actually we almost had to abandon the mustang project. My car had died. I blew the headers. The money that we would have to spend on a new car was going to kill our project car. There was an older couple in our neighborhood that we helped out from time to time. The husband had passed away. Ryan came home one day with one of their cars. The family had decided that we should take his car for everything that we had done for them in the past. It was one of those Japanese sedans that are so popular. I, of course, refused to have anything to do with it. There was no way I was ever going to drive one of those rice burners. But Ryan had a plan. He gave me his Ford Ranger crew cab and took the sedan himself. He explained how this way we would be able to afford to keep working on the mustang project. I knew after that sacrifice how much he really loved me.

I stepped back a little to appreciate it. We had taken a lot of the styling from the 1970 Boss 302. That and the 1969 Mach 1 and some more modern touches as well. We had dropped in a modern Ford 5.0 liter v8 with 32 valves and dual overhead cams. We hooked it up to a Tremec 6 speed manual transmission. It was naturally aspirated with a shaker hood scoop. Ryan really loved the look of the hood scoop, particularly when the engine was idling and the hood was shaking. We might still look into a Paxton supercharger for an extra 100 horsepower, but that was still a bit of debate. We put in a Flowmaster exhaust system. We managed to work in a set of 19” performance tires with some more modifications as well as all modern suspension.