Wrong Side Girl (The Girl Series Book 1) by Julia Goda Page A

And I’ll deal with Courtney.” He was right. There was nothing I could do anyway. His mother would always hate me, and Courtney came before I was in the picture. I couldn’t concern myself with every single woman that came before me. I had to trust him to deal with it.
    “Okay. But just so you know, she shows up and gives me shit, I’ll take her down.” And I would. She had tortured me as a teenager, but I was now a grown woman and would not take her shit anymore. Those times were over. I had left all that behind when I left for college and it sure as hell was not going to fuck with my new life in Boston. Granted, I hadn’t gone that far, only an hour’s drive away, but for me, it felt like I lived in a different universe now.
    Cole chuckled and nuzzled my neck. “I know you will. And I won’t stop you. The opposite. I will cheer you on,” he said and started to kiss me, taking my mind off all the crazy bitches in his life and giving me better things to focus on.
    We spent the rest of our mini vacation in bed before we had to pack up and head back to the city.
    Now was now.
    Back to reality.
    Cole parked in front of my apartment building and killed the engine but didn’t make a move to get out of the car. Instead, he turned and faced me. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t all fired up to end our weekend, either. He also seemed conflicted about something as he studied me in the dim light of the parking lot. Then determination replaced indecision as he seemed to make up his mind. He cupped my face with his hand and pulled me closer across the console.
    “This is gonna sound crazy, but I don’t care. I don’t want this weekend to end, don’t want to drop you off at your place, go home, and sleep without you beside me. I know we are new and in normal relationship terms, this is going really fast. But you and I are not normal, Liz. I want you with me. Every night. I don’t care if we stay at your place or mine, as long as we are together. Though I have to say, I would prefer my bed, seeing as it’s bigger and closer to work.” The last he said through a smile while his thumb was stroking my cheek.
    I smiled back at him but wasn’t so sure. I’d had roommates before, during college, and it had never really worked for me. Yes, anything was better than living with my alcoholic drug-addict mother, but still. I preferred to live alone. Not that he had asked me to move in with him, but at the speed we were going, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was what was really on his mind. I wasn’t an expert in relationships and no relationship was the same, but I knew me. I was kind of a loner and needed time for just me sometimes. I was afraid of feeling smothered and disappointing him. But then again, wasn’t this exactly what I had always wanted, what I had dreamed about my whole life since I was ten years old? Having Cole? Him wanting me? Wanting me so much that he couldn’t be without me? God, I was confusing myself.
    “Liz, don’t overthink this. I know what’s going on in that head of yours. You’re taking everything apart, overanalyzing it. It’s simple. I want you with me. You want to be with me. Let’s act on that and be together whenever we can. We’ve lost enough time as it is and I’m not willing to waste any more. We’ll spend tonight at your apartment, seeing as we’re already here, and tomorrow night we’ll try mine and see how it goes. Deal?”
    He was right. We had lost enough time. I took a deep breath and pushed my anxiety and insecurities aside. “Deal,” I answered on a small smile. Cole grinned at me before he pulled me all the way across the console to give me a quick but deep kiss. “Deal.”
     

Chapter 11
    Cole
     
     
    Things were going great with Lizzy and me. I knew she had been concerned about how fast everything was happening with us, and for a few brief hours on our way home, the intensity of my feelings for her and my need to have her with me whenever I