Fred Munson likes his job as a traffic cop. He’s good at it. It’s his personal life that could use some improvement. With no friends, and being too shy to talk to anyone while out of uniform, when Fred is forced to use some of his vacation time, he has nothing to fill his days. At least not until he comes home to find his driveway blocked by a stranger with car troubles. A month after losing his father, Zen Zeppelin Cave has also lost his place in the world. The only thing holding him together is focusing on a charity junk car race to raise money for cancer research. And he's crossing that finish line even if he ends up replacing every part of the car along the way. Zen had planned on completing the race on his own, but a spur-of-the-moment decision changes that when he invites the adorable, blushing police officer whose driveway he’s blocking to tag along. Going with a stranger on a road trip is completely out of Fred’s comfort zone, so when he accepts the invitation, no one is more surprised than himself. Together, Zen and Fred head south. But will the old junk car hold together long enough to reach their destination? And will crossing the finish line mean the end of the road for a budding romance, or will they find there’s more to their journey?

Banger Challenge

“I have to…erm…change.” He gestured at the uniform. “Can’t be in uniform when I’m off duty.”


“Oh, of course.” Of course, cops couldn’t walk around being cops all the time. There was probably a law against it. “Let’s go.”


Zen went toward the house, curious about what it looked like on the inside. He guessed Fred was a neat freak. He looked over his shoulder to see Fred follow, eyes locked on the ground, and his fingers moving in nervous waves. It made him frown. Was he shy or…maybe he didn’t like Zen. So, he’d driven a little too fast. It wasn’t enough to make someone dislike him, was it?


Fred unlocked the door and gestured for Zen to go in. “I’ll just…” He pointed at an open door inside the hallway. Zen peeked inside—a double bed flawlessly made, soft, light green walls, and no dirty laundry anywhere to be seen. “Sure, go ahead.”


Chapter 8