Page 43 of Nerdy or Nice
"No. And to answer your question, Murphy is me. But I'm guessing you knew that already."
"Well, Ididwonder with the package and all. And because you took it downstairs, I figured it had to be yours."
I laughed. "Nothing gets byyou, huh?"
Her lips quirked upward. "Are you implying that I’m nosy?"
"No. I'm saying that you're observant. And that's not a bad thing."
"So, if Murphy isyou," she said, "why do you go by Drake? Is that a nickname? Or isMurphythe nickname?"
The answer was complicated with a history that I didn't want to get into, not today, so I stuck with the basics. "Drake's the name I go by, but I was born Murphy, so that's my legal name."
"Oh." She gave it some thought. "So what's your middle name, like on your birth certificate?"
"James."
"Murphy James…" she said, as if trying the name out for size. "So that's probably the name on your credit cards, too, huh?"
I wasn't sure what this had to do with it, and when I gave her a funny look, she added, "I just mean if a package is addressed to Murphy, that must be the name on whatever credit card you used to buy it."
Oh, yeah. She was observant, alright.
Smart, too.But I'd known this already, and I sure as hell wouldn't be complaining about it.
Still, that didn't mean I would be spilling my guts just yet, so I answered with a nod and did some subject-changing of my own. "So, you wanna guess where we're going?"
Chapter 24
Gwen
The place turned out be the local botanical garden, which was hosting a festival of Christmas lights. Somehow, Drake had managed to snag some V.I.P tickets for a nighttime stroll through the dazzling displays.
From experience, I knew that the festival ran the entire holiday season. But most of the nights were open for vehicles only – meaning you had to drive through the winter wonderland, as opposed to walking along the paved pathway at your own pace.
But tonight was completely vehicle-free. This meant we could take our sweet time without worrying about distracting headlights or someone driving too close on our back bumper.
As Drake and I walked hand-in-hand, it felt like a crazy, wonderful dream filled with prancing reindeer, lords a leaping, dancing angels, and too many Christmas trees to count.
I looked to Drake. "Do you know, I haven't been here since I was a kid?"
He smiled. "Oh, yeah? So your mom brought you?"
I shook my head. "Nah. It was my aunt and uncle." And then, at Drake's questioning look, I explained, "I came with Harper and Lexie. Their parents were always doing things like that, and since we're all good friends, a lot of times I ended up tagging along."
He gave my hand a tender squeeze. "That must've been nice."
I smiled at the memory. "Yeah, it was pretty awesome. Sometimes, we'd all go out for cookies and ice cream."
He gave me an amused glance. "Cookiesandice cream?"
I laughed. "Well, the cookie place had ice cream, too, so we'd normally get both." My tone grew wistful as I traveled back in time. "And they had this ice cream cookie sandwich that was totally amazing."
As Drake and I passed under a long sparkling archway of white Christmas lights, Drake stopped and turned to look at me, letting the other visitors stream past us like water flowing past rocks. In a warm voice, he asked, "Wanna know whatIthink is awesome?"
"What?"
His gaze met mine. "You."
