Page 95 of Wasted

The bike wobbled under Cillian, the handlebars tugging loose from his light grip.

The front wheel.

He stared down at it, but the wobble stopped, smoothing out as he continued to ride.

Weird. Maybe he’d hit a patch of ice he hadn’t noticed. Too deep in thought.

The lighting was pretty flat today through his tinted visor. Could be he’d missed?—

The bike shifted. Off-balance.

He pressed the rear brake slightly, checking the mirror to see if anyone was tailing him.

An SUV was coming up fast.

He switched to the middle lane.

The bike wobbled more, handlebars dodging his hold. Definitely the front tire. Couldn’t use the front brake or he’d make it worse.

He tried the rear brake again.

Not enough to calm the wobble. He’d try rolling off the throttle.

The bike slowed as he eased off, but the jerking increased.

Cillian pulled into the far-right lane, slowing gradually as the shaking started to go crazy.

The death wobble.

He was still going too fast. Couldn’t stop.

He looked down at the front tire.

Oh, man.

It was coming off.

If he was going down, he’d make sure he didn’t take anybody with him. He angled toward the shoulder, hitting the rear brake.

The tire separated, bike tipped forward.

He jumped for the ditch past the shoulder. Hit the ground, rolled, tucking in his arms and knees.

Snow and brown reeds created a white and brown blur in front of his eyes as he tumbled down the incline.

Then he stopped, arms and legs spread out.

Whoa. Now that was a rush.

A laugh bubbled up in his throat. He stayed lying there for another second or two, catching his breath as his heart rate calmed. Then he slowly sat up and turned to get to his hands and knees.

Pain shot through his leg.

No wonder. The denim was shredded over his thigh and knee, his skin peeled and spotted with blood beneath.

If that was the worst of the damage, he’d consider himself lucky. That tire had looked like it was coming right off the bike.

He pushed to his feet, stifling a wince as his hip twinged. Must’ve hurt something a little deeper than skin level, too.