Miles Away (Carrion #1)(12)

Landon gulped down his beer as he stared at Miles. To Miles, he seemed like such a straight-laced kid.

“So Landon…” Miles asked, breaking him from his thoughts. Landon took another swig of his beer and placed it back down on the table.

“Yeah?” he asked with a nervous look in his eyes. Landon hadn’t taken his eyes off the door since he arrived.

“What have you been doing with yourself lately? Got a girl?” Miles asked, trying to drag a conversation out of him.

“Not right now. Playing my options,” Landon said as a cocky smirk crossed his face.

“Mmmhmmm…” Miles muttered as his eyes moved from face to face in the restaurant. Many he recognized, but others were completely new to him.

“I was never really one to hop from girl to girl,” Miles explained. “I never really saw the fascination. It was hard enough figuring out what one woman wanted, let alone a handful.”

Besides, Letty would’ve beat my ass, Miles thought.

Landon’s eyes perked up with alarm as he watched someone walk through the front door of the restaurant. Miles couldn’t see the front of the restaurant from his vantage point, but whoever just walked in caught Landon’s eye and his gaze trailed them across the dining room.

“Yo, Miles, head’s up. Ruin Rizzoli is staring at you…” Landon said, his forehead scrunching up as the stress began to show in his facial expressions.

“Ruin, huh? You mean Rich Rizzoli?” Miles asked with a confused look on his face.

“Yeah, he’s known as Ruin now. He’s fighting in the underground arena.”

Miles craned his neck around, expecting the worst, but when he met eyes with his old buddy, all he could do was laugh. Miles stood up from the table, as a loud laugh ripped from his throat.

“Fucking Richie,” Miles said as he peered back at one of his oldest friends.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Landon asked with a confused look growing from his eyes.

“It’s uh… it’s neither. It’s fine. Richie is harmless,” Miles said, unsure of how to answer the kid’s question.

“Shut the front door and shut the back one, too! Miles f*cking Capadonno…” Ruin said as he approached Miles with a shit-eating grin.

“Richie Rizzoli… holy hell,” Miles replied. “It’s been forever.”

“I can’t believe they finally let you out,” Ruin said as he shook Miles’s hand.

“Hi, Miles,” a petite female with a head of long black curls and deep red lipstick said from behind Ruin. Miles immediately recognized her as his cousin, Rumor.

“Hey Ru!” Miles said, happy to see a familiar face. “You two?”

Ruin laughed as he grasped Rumor’s hand. “Yeah… Six months now, we’ve been together, right, hun?”

Rumor rolled her eyes. “Eight. But who’s counting?”

Standing up from his chair, Miles towered over both of them. Miles could remember when he and Richie both stood shoulder to shoulder in elementary school. Miles slapped Ruin hard on his back, damn near knocking the wind out of his chest.

Ruin looked Miles up and down and laughed. “You look nothing like I remember you!”

“Yet you recognized him from across the restaurant,” Landon said with a nonplussed look on his face.

“Hey Landy,” Rumor said as she pinched her cousin’s cheeks.

“Stop that, and don’t call me Landy anymore!” Landon complained. “It’s Landon. I’m a man now.”

“I’m sowwy!” Rumor said in her best baby voice.

“Dude, you look nothing like I remember either,” Miles said as he slapped Ruin’s bulging bicep.

Fucking ’roids. He’s probably got a pecker the size of a tictac.

Ruin threw his head back as a laugh ripped from his mouth. “So when did they let you out?”

“Like an hour ago.” Miles nodded towards Landon. “The kid picked me up.”

“I was just saying to Rumor that my buddy Miles owned a Charger like the one that’s parked outside…” Ruin mentioned.

“Oh, yeah. That’s Corina.”

“You still have the car?” Ruin asked in a shocked voice.

“Yeah… A buddy of mine had kept her safe in his garage in Jersey City.”

“Knox started a rumor that it was riddled with bullet holes…” Ruin said, giving Miles a look of disbelief.

“Yeah, well, what else is new? My brother always was full of shit.”

“So, damn… buddy. What’s with the beard?” Ruin asked with a bewildered look on his face.

Miles lifted his eyebrow. It was a conversation starter for sure. Running his fingers through his beard, the soft hair grazed against the rough skin of his hand.

Winking at a girl at the next table, Miles replied, “The ladies dig the beard, man.”

The beautiful blonde at the next table over gave Miles a smoldering smile. She smoothed her long blonde hair down her back and summed Miles up in a glance. Lifting an eyebrow, blondie was impressed. Miles stroked his beard and gave her a wink. That was all the verification that he needed.

The kitchen doors swung open as Rita emerged with a tray full of steaming hot food.

“Hate to cut you short but…” Miles began as he turned from Rumor and Ruin to take his seat.