StaR-CrosseD🔱 {Book 1}

Part TwentyThree: R&R Fin

Author's Note
This is Ring and Rico's final chapter.
The next chapter is the end of the book, then there's an epilogue after that.
So two more chapters to go.
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Rico & Ring

The moment Ring let himself into his condo, he knew something was not right.
Someone was there.
And he knew it couldn't be Rico because he'd just got off the phone with him.

When his nostrils got a whiff of perfume, he immediately knew who that someone was.
His stomach clenched, he'd been so wrapped up in Rico that he'd forgotten all about her.

By the time he made it into the living room and tossed both his jacket and gun on the nearest chair, he'd gotten his mood under control.

"Surprise!!" Letoya said in an elated voice, a huge smile on her face.

Inspite of her upbeat demeanor, Ring noticed the wary look in her expressive brown eyes.
She was obviously wondering what kind of reception she was going to receive.
Well, she was right to question. He was a little pissed off to have an uninvited guest after the fucked up evening he'd just had.

He would've liked nothing more than to be curled up in bed with Rico right now, but instead Ric was out tryna deal with his baby mama drama. And by 'deal' he meant beg her not to get rid of his baby, which she'd threatened to do tomorrow if Rico didn't dump Ring and come home to her. For all Ring knew he might be single right now.

The last thing he wanted was the company of anyone else, even if it was an attractive female with a beautiful smile and a banging body. Any man in his right mind would kill for such company, and he'd fit in that category until he got with Rico. Now he couldn't see nothing and no one else.

Ring's heart quickened at the thought of Ricardo. But as much as he'd like to think about him right now, he couldn't , he had to deal with the business at hand, which was getting himself out of this present fix.

"Say something." Toya said in a pleading voice. "Please."

"Man, Toya look i—"

"I know it was presumptuous of me to show up like this, but I haven't seen you in so long." Toya paused and managed a few breaths, then walked around the counter to wrap her arms loosely around his midsection. "I've missed you so much, and I didn't know what else to do."

"You could've called." Ring tried hard to keep his voice as gentle as possible, and still get his point across.

"Would you have seen me if I had? Tonight I mean."

Ring hesitated, hating to hurt her. But that was exactly what he was gonna a have to do.

"Your hesitation says it all." She said sadly, then stood on her tippy toes and tried to kiss him, but he turned his face away quickly. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I already told you what's up T, what are you doing?"

"So you're hanging out with Ric, what does that have to do with us? It hasn't stopped you before."

Ring sighed and sat down on a nearby stool, he'd give anything to dead this conversation right now and go to sleep. "This ain't like the other times though, this one's different. It's Ricardo."

"So you're just done with me?" When Ring didn't respond she took a step backwards and said "wow."

"What do you want me to say? I'm tryna keep it real with you." Ring commented.

"I want you to say that you're glad I'm here, that you're glad I have dinner prepared and the table set with candles and wine."

He saw tears brimming in her eyes, making him feel more like an ass than ever.