Speed Demon

Chapter One

It was eerily quiet, every small sound echoing loudly in the crowded garage, where there should have been laughter and the dull roar of starting cars. Raking his hand through his already disheveled black hair, Xander swore and looked down at his watch again.

Taking a deep breath in, he once again wondered if he and his crew were making a mistake taking on this young hotshot driver. He might win them more races than any other driver with twice his experience, but he would surely drive them all mad before then.

The kid was an excellent driver and had a very promising career ahead of him, but the young ones never seemed to have the control and dedication to keep winning. At twenty-three, it was his first year on the circuit, his first year with the big boys, and he didn’t seem to understand that he couldn’t just show up on race day, drive and win.

The media loved him, fans loved him, and he had so many sponsors that they were turning them down left and right. He also had the ego to go with it, one that had Xander gritting his teeth and wishing he could take the kid over his knee and beat it out of him.

Just as he was turning to dismiss his team, the door opened and Spike swaggered in, pushing up his dark sunglasses and jamming his keys into his already too tight faded jeans. He glanced at Xander with his eyebrow arched, as if to say ‘Why is everyone just sitting around?’

“You’re over an hour late,” Xander bit out, gritting his teeth. He made a mental note to make an appointment with his dentist, surely day after day with this cocky son of a bitch would result in him shattering a tooth or two or three.

Will “Spike” Thomas just smirked. “Yeah, ‘bout that. Can’t we like, move these meeting things farther up in the day? Bloke’s gotta have some time to sleep, eh?”

Tilting his head up to stare at the ceiling, Xander started counting. Not to ten, oh no, at ten he would still want to grab the thoughtless twerp by his too blonde hair and shake some sense into him.

After he felt his nerves start to calm a bit, he looked back at Spike and breathed in deep. “If you didn’t stay out till four in the morning, then maybe you could get up in time to make these ‘meeting things’, yes?” he said quietly, slowly, as if talking to a confused child.

Rolling his eyes, Spike grabbed a chair and straddled it, resting his arms along its back. “Yes, Da,” he snarked back.

Growling, he was up on his toes about to lunge at the idiot, when Oz, the calmest member of the crew grabbed him by the arm.

“Hey, boss, let’s just get started, okay? We’ve got a shitload to get done before tomorrow’s race.”

Giving him a slight smile to thank him for not letting Xander thrash the kid, he nodded. Clapping his hands, he called, “Okay, boys, you know what to do. We get this done before midnight and I’ll take you all out for pizza and beer, how's that?”

Cheers and laughter echoed in the garage as the men started pulling tools out and checking over the cars. Xander called out to Oz, and tossed him a cd to stick in the player.

Oz grinned at him when he realized it was his band’s new record and soon, hard thumping drums and loud guitar riffs were shaking the metal of the garage walls.

Turning back to Spike, he couldn’t help the twitch of his lips as he took in the boy’s face. Head resting on his arms, eyes closed and sound asleep. Shaking his head in exasperation, he walked over to him and knelt down.

Beautiful boy, he thought, startled by how much he looked like an angel when he sleeps. Blinking rapidly, he shoved the thought from his head. Woaahh now, Harris. You need this kid, can’t go scaring him off by lusting after him, now. Besides, you’d end up killing him after a week.

Reaching up to tug on a soft lock of hair, his eyes were level with the boy’s when they blinked open. Sleepy, puzzled blue eyes met amused and chiding brown.

“Mornin, sleepy head.”

“Christ, Harris. Sorry, late night,” Spike mumbled, looking down sheepishly. Xander sighed, he always forgot how young he was, too young for the amount of pressure he had placed on him.

He should know, because he had been in his shoes not so long ago. Xander had ruled the world of racing from twenty-four to twenty-eight. He’d only retired after his wife had insisted, threatening divorce. Of course, they had divorced, anyway, but he found he loved his job now too much to go back to racing himself.

At just thirty, he was one of the youngest crew chiefs and he was damn good at his job. He could have had his pick amongst the already established winners, but he had seen something promising in the young Brit. Although he had often pondered about the wiseness of his decision, the boy always pulled through and proved he had made the right one.

He didn’t always win, but he always gave it his absolute best shot. That’s really all he could ask of the kid.

That and coming to the meetings where they tested everything and ran the car over and over again. It bored the boy, often, but it was best for the driver to have some say in what goes on with the car he would be racing in.

Straightening up, he held out a hand to Spike and pulled him up. “C’mon, lets go see that beauty of ours and see how Oz is treatin’ her.”

Glancing at the standoffish and aloof expression on the blonde’s face, he said, “I know you don’t know everyone here well but these are all great guys. Loosen up a bit and show them the side you let me see occasionally and I’m sure you’ll make some great friends. They are already behind you one hundred percent, anyway.”

When Spike just looked at him, Xander sighed and slung his arm over the younger man’s shoulders, leading him to the car that Oz was currently under.

“I also know you aren’t sure about what everyone is up to in here and that bores you, but you need to understand this stuff if you are going to racing in these machines. Can’t believe your daddy didn’t teach you anything about cars cept how to drive one.”

A few hours later and Xander was torn between tearing his hair out or laughing uncontrollably. Spike had taken his advice and let down his usual cocky and arrogant persona and was getting to know the guys, but they were getting absolutely nothing done. Finally breaking up the impromptu karaoke/dancing lessons, he pulled Spike to the other end of the garage.

The kid really knew absolutely nothing about cars. Between him explaining what did what and the boy wanting to try stuff for himself, it was almost eleven o’clock before Xander considered the car raceable for the next day.

Xander stretched, yawning and rolling his head around on his neck to ease some of the pressure. He felt the sweat roll down his back and grimaced. Pulling his shirt over his head, he wiped it across his brow and thought about a shower. The other men had gone to get cleaned up before heading over to the bar/pizza joint in town.

Feeling a touch on his back, Xander jumped, startled. Turning around, he saw Spike’s smirking face.

“Sorry, Harris, din’t mean ta scare ya. C’mere and sit down a few minutes, you’re so tense you are gonna break in half.”

Letting himself be led to a nearby chair, he lowered himself into it with a groan. When fingers began kneading the muscles in his shoulders, Xander almost whimpered. The kid might be smallish and compact but he did have some muscle in him.

He let his head roll forward so those talented fingers could work on his neck. A slight brush of a fingertip against the sensitive side of his neck made him twitch, the slow burn of arousal seeping into him.

He hadn’t wanted a guy this much since his college years, preferring the soft curves of his wife, but he hadn’t forgotten how a hard muscled body felt underneath his.

Xander reached back and grabbed Spike’s hand, before he lost control and decided to pull the boy into his lap. “That was great, thanks. Let’s get washed up so we can catch up with the boys. I owe ‘em dinner, after all.”

As he stood up, he saw the boy’s eyes flicker down his body. Pulling Spike after him, he told himself he was just imagining the interest sparking in his eyes. Xander’s stomach clenched at the thought the kid might share his awareness, but he shoved all notions about acting on it away.

He was seven years the boy’s senior and they had to work together closely every day. Not to mention the fact that if the kid wasn’t gay he could be looking at losing his job or the very least, his winning racer. Sighing, he shook his head. Harris, what in hell are you getting yourself into, now?