CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
NAJEE
Najee hadn’t had a real conversation with Jackie in almost three weeks.
Even before that, their communication started thinning out, in a way Najee tried not to take personally.
He knew Syxe had the baby and that Jackie was staying with her to help.
But even that information hadn’t come from Jackie directly.
Dr. Ish asked Max one day why he’d been showing up late to session, and Max—talkative as ever, ended up filling in all the blanks Jackie hadn’t.
After that, the shift between him and Jackie became a little harder to ignore.
She’d also missed all of Max’s individual appointments and completely stopped showing up to the breakout sessions altogether.
Najee thought about texting her more than once to ask her, what the fuck was up?
But every version of the message sounded too pressed.
So he sent flowers instead. That earned him a text.
The first one he’d gotten from her in almost three weeks, and even then, it was just a quick thank you.
Polite, short, and straight to the point in a way that felt deliberate.
The following morning, she canceled their third one-on-one session with another text sent entirely too early for him to question without looking bothered.
Jackie: Hey, can’t make it today. Got something to handle.
Will be at joint session tho. Thanks. That was it.
Under normal circumstances, Najee probably would’ve let it ride.
Would’ve told himself she was busy and that life was simply lifing.
But that would’ve been easier to believe if he had not spent the last two weeks watching Jackie pull up to the school in Cash’s matte black Range Rover.
The same damn Range nobody touched but Cash himself.
That truck was custom, barely broken in, and damn near an extension of Cash’s ego at this point.
Seeing Jackie behind the wheel every morning felt louder than anything she could’ve actually said out loud, especially at that school, where everybody saw everything and minded business that had nothing to do with them. The gossip started almost immediately.
Najee heard the whispers all week, mostly from his own family members and faculty being messy as hell while pretending they were just, “concerned.”
You see Max Brown’s mom driving Coach’s truck?
Ain’t no way she just borrowing it this long.
You think Zambia know?
Maybe she’s, his co-wife.
Najee kept it P on the outside, but internally, that shit bothered him more than he wanted to admit.
He liked Jackie. A lot. More than he probably should’ve by now.
He had even started making space for her in his life without even realizing it.
And that was exactly why the distance between them irritated him so badly because some of it was his fault.
Taking those two weeks away to “strategize” had sounded responsible in theory.
In reality, it shifted something between them.
Jackie was already guarded. Already used to people disappointing her.
And whether Najee wanted to fully own it or not, he had added himself to that list the second he pulled back without explaining why.
That was why their last real conversation stayed with him the way it did.
For the first time, it felt like they were moving toward something real.
Max had less than a month left in therapy, and Najee’s role had already started shifting into something more supervisory than direct.
Ethically, the finish line was finally coming into view.
He thought maybe once they cleared it, he could approach Jackie the right way, cleanly and intentionally.
But then came the Range Rover, the whispers and the way Jackie and Cash seemed to communicate like they shared an understanding nobody else was privy to.
Najee tried to let it go. He even cracked open his little black book for the first time in months, hoping somebody else could distract him long enough to get Jackie off his mind.
But none of that shit worked. Which honestly pissed him off more than anything, because he was entirely too grown to be this down bad over a woman he technically hadn’t even taken on a date.
Yet, every time he tried to talk himself out of it, his mind went right back to that night.
The way her lips felt against his. The way she melted into his arms like she’d been made to fit there.
Soft in all the places life had forced her to be hard.
And just like that, all that logical shit went out the window.
By the time Jackie and Max arrived for their joint session the following afternoon, Najee was fully back in therapist mode.
Dr. Ish had called out sick that morning, so Najee had to step in and run the session himself.
Before they walked in, he told himself he was going to keep it professional, keep it light, and stop reading into shit that technically wasn’t his business.
Then Jackie walked in, and that entire plan went straight to hell.
She had on a black turtleneck dress that hugged every curve like it knew exactly what it was doing.
Black lace stockings disappeared beneath a pair of over-the-knee boots, subtle enough not to scream for attention but sexy enough to have Najee’s mind drifting places it absolutely did not need to be.
Her natural hair was pulled into a soft bun, and those tortoise-shell readers sat low against her nose while she flipped through Max’s notebook, oblivious to her ability to completely derail his concentration without even trying.
It was late November, and the city was freezing.
Even in that chill, Jackie still managed to walk into his office looking warm.
Najee almost lost focus the second she slipped her coat off.
He forced his attention back down to his notes and reminded himself to keep it light.
Tighten up, nigga… you at work., Najee told himself.
But that was easier said than done considering the awkwardness sitting between them now.
Jackie was polite when she arrived. Warm enough not to be rude, but careful in a way she hadn’t been before.
Jackie took her usual spot on the sofa with her notebook in her lap, pen moving like she needed something to focus on that wasn’t him.
Their small talk while Max used the restroom had been exactly that…
small. Surface level. Forced and awkward as fuck.
After a while, Najee busied himself with emails just to keep from asking questions he technically had no right to ask.
Questions like…how was she really doing?
Why had she suddenly gone distant? And most importantly, why was she driving that nigga’s car?
Najee already knew none of those conversations would be appropriate, so he kept it player and pretended to be busy instead.
He checked emails, skimmed through clinical notes, anything to keep his mind occupied and his attention off Jackie long enough to get through the session without making shit weird.
Max returning from the restroom ended up being a welcome distraction from all of it.
“Alright, champ,” Najee said once Max settled into the chair across from him.
His tone stayed easy and warm. “We just talking today. No pressure.”
“Cool,” Max said, already swinging his legs.
Najee smiled despite himself. “What’s the last really fun thing you did?”
Max lit up instantly. “I stayed at Coach Cash’s house two Saturdays ago!”
Jackie’s pen froze against the notebook. Najee noticed immediately, even though he kept his expression neutral. “Oh yeah?” he asked casually. “That sounds cool. What was that about?” His eyes met Jackie’s briefly before Max launched into the story with entirely too much excitement.
“Well, Mommy’s car broke down after football, and she was tryna call Auntie Syxe, but she ain’t answer, so I texted Coach Cash and he picked us up.
Then he took us to get ramen, and he got me Captain Underpants pajamas from Targets.
” Najee nodded slowly while Jackie shifted on the sofa like her ass was on fire.
“Mommy left our house keys in the car, and it got towed,” Max continued proudly.
“So Coach let us spennanight at his condo. Dr. Najee, do you know Coach Cash live on the forty-second floor? And he got KAWS in his house?” Najee nodded again, masking everything behind the same calm therapist’s smile.
“Nice of him to help y’all out,” Najee said smoothly as his eyes met Jackie’s.
“Did you have a good time?” Max nodded hard.
“It was so nice, Dr. Najee. It wasn’t no loud noises, no gunshots, and Mommy didn’t even have to pray over me before bed.
” That one landed heavier than it probably should’ve.
Najee’s expression didn’t shift, but something low and uncomfortable settled in his chest anyway because Max said it so casually.
Like peace and quiet were a rare luxury instead of something a little boy should already be used to.
And that was the part that stayed with him.
Not Cash, or Jackie— but Max. Children had a way of normalizing things adults forgot were heartbreaking.
It was then Najee felt some of his frustration soften a little.
Jackie’s eyes stayed fixed on the notebook in her lap, but Najee could see the shame working across her face anyway.
Max kept going, innocent as ever. “Coach got this huge TV that come out the ceiling, and Mommy had on Coach Cash’s big shirt—” Jackie cut in, her voice a little too bright.
“Okay, baby, that’s enough. Let’s stay focused for Dr. Najee. ” Max blinked. “I am focused… you did—”
“Maximus.” This time, her tone came out firmer.
Najee cleared his throat and looked down at his notes, his pen moving even though he wasn’t writing shit.
“Sounds like it was a good night,” Najee said casually.
Then he finally looked up at Jackie fully, for the first time all session and held her gaze.
“Glad you both felt safe.” Jackie looked away first, and somehow, that told him everything he needed to know.