Page 78 of All In

His eyes moved across the room automatically, taking everything and everyone in the way they always did. At the bar, Uncle Amin stood shoulder to shoulder with his father and a few other men locked into what looked like a quiet but intense debate. Their voices stayed low, but the tension carried anyway. Further down the table, Cash and Zambia were deep in conversation. Something he never thought he’d see. Cassius even looked engaged, like whatever she was saying genuinely mattered to him. Najee noticed that immediately. Then his attention shifted again until his eyes found Fatima. She sat with his aunt and a few of his cousins laughing softly, already looking his way. One of them lifted a hand, waving him over. Najee gave a small nod of acknowledgment with absolutely no plans of ever walking over there. Just then, a large boom of thunder cracked across the sky loud enough to pull everyone’s attention for a second. Rain had been falling steadily since dinner started, but now it came down in sheets. It hit harder against thewindows, filling the quieter spaces between conversations with a steady rhythm. Lightning flashed briefly across the room before everything settled back into its warm glow again. Najee barely reacted to the storm itself. But he registered the pressure in the air.

Then his phone buzzed. And the second he saw Jackie’s name flash across the screen, everything else around him faded into the background. “Excuse me,” he said quietly, already stepping away before anybody could stop him for another conversation. He moved toward the living room where the noise softened enough for him to think. Rain streaked steadily against the tall windows as he stopped near the wall and opened the message.Jackie:I’m sorry…Najee read it once.

Then again. His expression barely changed. But something in him shifted all the same as he stared down at the screen. Because that? Wasn’t on his bingo card at all. At least not from her. He was almost certain he would be the one making first contact. There was no attitude attached to it, just accountability plain and simple. Najee exhaled slowly, his thumb hovering over the keyboard while the rain continued tapping steadily against the glass behind him. She came to him, and that meant something, and whether Jackie realized it or not—that mattered. Maybe more than the actual apology. He let the silence sit for a second before finally typing back, and when he did respond he was short, direct, and said exactly what need to be said. He didn’t do the word salad shit because words didn’t work on women like Jackie.Only actions. Her response came quick, one after another. And before he knew it they were back in the flow of conversation, minus the awkwardness.

Najee stayed leaned against the wall, eyes fixed on the screen feeling a tiny bit of relief that she wasn’t icing him out right now. He kept his responses measured, never over-explaining or fillingspace that didn’t need filling. Instead, he let the conversation unfold naturally.

And it did, right up until—Jackie:Tonight.

Najee’s thumb stilled briefly over the screen as something low and sharp settled in his chest. It wasn’t hesitation. Or doubt. It felt more like recognition. Of what that message actually meant.He glanced up once, gathering himself before looking back down at the phone again. Then he typed the only response that mattered.Najee:On my way!

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

JACKIE

Najee had texted Omw… almost three hours ago.

At this point, Jackie didn’t know whether to feel embarrassed, pissed off, or just straight-up played with. Freezing rain had been slapping against the windows for hours, and thunder kept rolling every few minutes like it was talking shit. She kept telling herself that was why he hadn’t shown up yet.He probably got caught up at his auntie’s dinner. Or worse, he was with that Fatima bitch.The thought came fast and ugly, and low-key Jackie felt lame for even thinking it. But the longer she sat there, the louder her pride got. She had put herself out there.Apologized.Taken the initiative and made first contact. And now here she was, sitting home looking dumb waiting on a man. She thought about texting him some cool shit, likenever mindjust to save face. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

That would’ve made her look even more pressed, and Jackie was already struggling with the fact that she sent the first message. So instead, she finished the last two wine coolers and let the buzz settle low in her body. When a cold draft swept through the living room, Jackie glanced toward the vent and knew immediately the heater had gone out again. It wasn’t freezing, but the warmth had thinned out enough for her to notice, and it was way too late to call Juan.

Luckily upstairs still held heat, and the bathroom temperature was perfect. And if she were being honest, shedidn’t really want to sit downstairs spiraling anymore. So she said fuck it and ran herself a bath.Jackie ran the water hot, poured in herFenty Skin Vanilla Flowers, then added herSaint Jane Deep Sleepbath salts. She lit her favorite candle,Vanilla Sex by Tom Ford. Connected her Bluetooth speaker and queued up her favorite audiobook. A few seconds later, Jakobi Diem’s smooth, sultry voice filled the bathroom and transported her straight toPlanet Ace.

Jackie lit her blunt, leaned back in the tub, and tried not to think about him.But the more she tried to get Najee off her mind, the more he stayed there.Jackie could feelhis hands. Hear his voice. Even visualize the way he glared at her over his glasses. Jackie’s thighs clenched just thinking about it. But her attraction to him, was more than just physical. Najee was kind even when she wasn’t. And when he did have to check her? He did it without humiliation. She didn’t have to decode his gestures or read his mind. He stood on business.And damn if that shit didn’t turn her on.

Jackie didn’t know if it was the weed, the wine coolers, the hot water, or just him. But her body was reacting, and by the time she got out of the tub her mind was made up.

Tonight was definitely, a Derrick Rose-toy type of night.

Jackie moisturized with her favorite body butter, unwrapped her hair, and slipped into her gray, cotton, mini baby-doll sleep dress, with her favorite lace boy shorts and thigh-high socks. She stood in the mirror for a second and took herself in. At thirty-six years old, Jackie lookeddamnedgood. Even after beingstretchedby motherhood.Stressedby Marcus and turned every wayexceptloose by life. Jackiestillloved the woman staring back at her. She had survived so many versions of her body, but this by far, this was her favorite. Her skin wasskinning.Her thighs were thick and toned.

Now her sew-in? Had seen better days, but her bundles were soteathe older the hairstyle got, the better the hair looked. Jackie took her Denman brush, combed through her hair, until it fell loose around her shoulders. Then she reached to the top shelf in her closet and grabbed her favorite toy.

“D. Rose… you coming out of retirement tonight,”she said to herself.She picked up her Kindle, ready to pull up theDangerseries for a little inspiration. Jackie was just about to settle in bed when a loud knock boomed through the house. Jackie froze.Because ain’t no way.

She crossed to her bedroom window and peeked outside and there it was. Najee’s Porsche truck. Parked right in front of her house. Lightning flashed across the sky at the exact same time.

The knock came again, only louder this time.

Then his voice.

“Jack! It’s me!”

CHAPTER FIFTY

NAJEE

Najee stilled the second the door opened.

Not because he wasn’t expecting her. But because of what shelookedlike. White thigh-high socks stretched up her thick thighs, stopping right where the soft flesh curved. The gray babydoll nightgown she had on barely did its job. It was soft, sheer, and left almost nothing to the imagination. Her hair was pinned up lazily in a claw clip, a few strands slipping loose around her face. But somehow it wasn’t the outfit that got him. It was theglasses.Oversized tortoiseshell frames. The exact pair he remembered complimenting the first time he had ever been in her home. Najee didn’t move, and for a second, neither did she. They just stood there in the doorway, staring. All Najee could focus on was her neck. The soft, warm slope of it—and how easy it would be to wrap his hand around it, pull her close, and kiss her there. His eyes moved over her once, before settling somewhere safer—because his first instinct wasn’t helpful right now. Rain dripped from his hair down the side of his face. His clothes clung to him, damp from the storm, chest rising a little harder than normal. He knew showing up this late was a gamble. He knew shit could go left. And there was a real possibility that she might not even open the door. But turning around? That was never really an option. Not once she texted him and he felt that shift.

Najee stayed at the dinner longer than he needed to.Forty-five minuteslonger. And as much as he wanted to dip, Irish exit style, he still needed to keep up appearances and remain respectful. The drive from King of Prussia had been brutal. Freezing rain slammed the windshield, wind shoved against the truck like it was trying to turn him back. At one point it got so bad he had to pull over, sitting there with his hands on the wheel, phone dead. And of course, out of all nights, he was in the Porsche. The one car he barely drove, and never kept a charger in. So now it was just him, and the decision he’d already made.

Najee finally lifted his eyes to hers, dark and steady. “You inviting me in,” he said, voice low and rough from the cold, “or we just gone stand here?” Jackie hesitated for half a second, then stepped back and opened the door wider. He wasn’t drenched, but the rain still clung to him, darkening the shoulders of his all-black suit. The second he crossed the threshold, she moved close. Her hands went to his coat, sliding it off his shoulders with quiet focus. “Hold on,” she murmured, not quite looking at him.

Najee’s eyes stayed locked on her. Because from behind, that little nightgown wasn’t playing fair. The soft fabric shifted with every step she took, giving him a quick, dangerous flash of yellow lace peeking underneath. And when she walked away to hang the coat, the short nightgown rode up just enough for him to see the way the lace was getting swallowed by the curve of her ass with every movement. His jaw tightened. He dragged his gaze back up before it could linger too long. But the image was already burned in. She disappeared for a second, then came back holding a heather grayNorf Starrsweatshirt. It was soft and worn-in, like it had been loved for a while. “Monty gave this to my big son one of the last times he was here,” she said, holding it out. “You a little taller, but it’ll fit.”

Najee didn’t take the sweatshirt right away. His eyes stayed on her, steady and unreadable, as he reached up and startedunbuttoning his damp shirt. Slow. Deliberate. One button at a time. He didn’t miss the way her eyes flicked down to his chest. Didn’t miss how fast she caught herself and looked away. Instead, she started doing that fast-talking shit she did when she was nervous or lying. “I know it’s a little chilly in here,” she said, her voice pitched a little higher than normal.