Bone Diggers (Paperback out now!)

Bone Diggers - Chapter Nine

Everyone had to place their bikes against the fence before entering the gate. The race would start off inside and they'd have to sprint back to their bikes. Procedure he guessed, since lining up in the middle of the road wasn't going to happen. Manhattan was never empty. When the whistle was blown, Andreah jogged backwards for a second making sure Owen followed before feeling confident enough to bolt along with everyone else to her own bike.

From his bike, Owen searched for where Andreah was, but he didn't spot her. So he rode with the crowd for most of the way. 8th Ave was the major route everyone took, using the bike lanes between the two parks. He rounded the corner at 23rd to take the straight shot to Madison Square. Something from DOT's Don't Be A Jerk campaign must have stuck, since he made sure to be extra careful of each pedestrian, even if it was adding extra seconds onto his time. He wiggled his way past any mishaps, making it far enough to get a stamp as he stopped at the first checkpoint.

Strangers started pedaling towards Broadway, but before he rejoined them a bike sharply cut him off. Andreah appeared as everyone else pushed on past, going around them like a river would around a rock.

"Nuh-uh. I'm not going to let the person I invited make a newbie mistake," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Owen wasn't sure which details he was more confused about his near "mistake" or how she showed up out of nowhere.

"That way is a minefield. You'll never make it out of there alive. Come on, follow me."

She sat up on the bike to get a strong restart as she headed towards Madison, and Owen followed. Andreah ventured a glance over her shoulder whenever she got the chance, making sure he was still there. They both wove between cars, but Owen let her lead the way, trusting her judgment would keep both of them from ending up under someone's tires.

What he hadn't judged was how close he was getting to her at some points. His front tire caught her back tire. The opposite motions caused his front tire to stutter while her's kept going. The friction acted a lot like abruptly hitting only the front brakes, and ruined the once smooth ride. The crash into the pavement was shit, but thankfully they had cut over to what counted as the shoulder so he didn't have to worry about any oncoming cars. He tucked his arms in to protect them from serious damage. The skid scratched exposed skin and left his shoulder tight and sore.

"Fuck," Andreah called over her shoulder before hitting her brakes. He was sitting up by time she jogged back to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Owen winced as he tested his shoulder. "I see the purpose of the helmet now. Just wish I knew what to look out for."

"I'm sorry, I should have made sure you weren't too tight on my tail." Andreah knelt down to help him, mentally checking off injures he had or didn't have. Her careful expression made him wonder if she had seen this a number of times before.

Owen couldn't help but laugh it off. "It's okay, I'm fine. Maybe I was just distracted by the view."

A cab honked before swerving around them, and Owen realized his bike was still sticking out into traffic. He hooked the tire with his foot and dragged it back.

"Come on, you nerd. Get up." Andreah smirked softly before bonking him softly on the helmet. "Does your shoulder hurt?"

"It's not bad."

"Well good." Andreah smiled to herself like her next comment already pleased her before she even said it. "I can help with that later, if you want."

Lacing almost anything with an innuendo seemed to be her hidden talent, making Owen glance away sheepishly like he had been the bold one. "Shouldn't we keep going?"