Page 59 of Bully Alpha's Secret Baby

“With who?” I ask, pushing her just a little more, because watching Jade worked up like this is kind of fun.

“Her. The blonde. What’s-her-name.” She gestures toward the party with a frustrated wave of her hand. “She was all over you.”

I chuckle and chance a step closer. “You mean Nina? She was just talking to me.”

“Talking?” she scoffs. “That’s what you call it?”

“She wasn’t flirting, Jade,” I assure her as I close the distance between us until I’m standing right in front of her. “Not that it would matter if she was.”

Her eyes flash, and she steps back. “Oh, it wouldn’t matter?”

“No.” I take another step forward, keeping my voice calm, but there’s no mistaking the seriousness in my tone. “Because I don’t want her. I don’t want anyone but you.”

Jade blinks, and her tough exterior cracks just a bit. For a moment, she looks unsure, vulnerable even, and it hits me that she doesn’t fully realize how much she means to me.

“What are you saying?” Jade asks.

I take her hand and pull her gently toward the futon in the corner of the room. She follows, sitting down beside me. Her body is still tense, but I can see the curiosity in her eyes now. The walls she always keeps up around me are lowering, brick by brick.

“I’m saying,” I begin, turning to face her fully, “that you’re the only one I’ve ever wanted. Since the first time, Jade. Since we… since we were together that night, years ago.”

Her eyes widen, and she opens her mouth to say something, but I stop her with a hand on her knee, the touch light but grounding. “I’ve never been with anyone else since you.”

Her breath hitches, and she stares at me like she’s trying to process what I just said. “What?”

I nod and keep my gaze locked on hers. “Not since that night. I couldn’t. I didn’t want anyone else.”

For a second, I think she’s going to laugh or push me away. But instead, she just sits there, staring at me with this look of disbelief mixed with something deeper. Something I can’t quite place yet.

“Damien,” she begins, but I shake my head, cutting her off.

“I’m serious, Jade. You’re it for me. You always have been.” I reach up to cup her cheek and brush my thumb over her skin. “I know things were complicated back then, but it was always you. I never stopped wanting you.”

Her eyes flicker with something—surprise, maybe, or relief—and she swallows hard, her hands fidgeting in her lap. “I… I didn’t know.”

“I wasn’t exactly the best at showing it,” I admit with a half-smile. “But I had a crush on you even when we were kids. Alec made it pretty clear you were off-limits, though, so I kept my distance.”

Jade’s eyes widen in surprise, and for the first time since we entered the cottage, her lips curl into a small smile. “A crush? You?”

I nod, chuckling. “Yeah. You were always so damn tough. Scared the hell out of me, to be honest.”

She laughs, and the sound is like a weight lifting off my chest. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her laugh like that—genuine, unguarded. “I had no idea.”

“Yeah, well, I was good at hiding it. Alec would’ve killed me if he’d known.”

Her smile softens, and she looks down at her hands for a moment before speaking again. “I had a thing for you, too, you know. Back then.”

“Really?”

She rolls her eyes. “Are you kidding? I had a huge crush on you. Like, embarrassing, swooning, teenage-girl level of ridiculous.”

A wide grin spreads across my face, and I lean forward, unable to resist stealing a kiss. “Is that so?”

“Mm-hmm,” she murmurs against my lips.

“How come you never told me?”

She shrugs. “What would a guy like you want with a shiftless freak like me?”

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