Then as soon as the girl left, Ruby asked for our help in clearing out some of the stuff in Hazel’s office. Apparently she left some boxes with our names on them and Ruby didn’t want to get rid of anything without our permission. I couldn't care less what was in those boxes, and I’d just as soon she burn it all before keeping some sentimental bullshit, but I couldn't tell Ruby that. She was still so fragile and lost it easily. So Ryder and I went into the office as she asked us to.

Savannah found us in there after her friend left. My eyes met hers as she walked in, looking a little tipsy after I was sure they had one too many martinis out there. Her eyes were glazed over, like she couldn’t quite make eye contact with me. I wanted to ditch this project immediately, but I was almost all the way through the box when Savannah plopped down next to me. I don’t want her going through this shit with me. I don’t need her seeing the truth behind the man she knows, the boy in and out of foster care because his parents couldn’t keep it together. Once I let her into that deeper part of me, then it will be damn impossible to watch her leave when she goes.

She picks up a piece of paper on top of my pile. I've worked it all into two piles. Shit I might need, like legal documents, and shit I don’t care about, like letters from my birth mother and pictures of me and my foster brothers and sisters.

“Who is Ian Murphy?” she asks with a giggle.

I snatch the paper out of her hands with a groan.

“Is that your real name?” she gasps. Her face says she’s being playful about it, but I can only grind my molars.

“He never told you his real name?” Ryder asks from the other side of the desk. Fucking Ryder.

Savannah’s easy smile starts to look harder to hold as she starts to process this information. No. I didn’t tell her my real name. I don’t tell anyone my real name. My mother was the only person to call me Ian, and I can still hear her yelling it when I got on her nerves, so when I had a chance to change it, I did.

“My name is Murph. You know my name,” I growl at the both of them.

“I like Ian,” she whispers next to me, touching my arm. Getting physical in front of others is not really something we do, and it makes me tense. Plus, I can feel Ryder’s eyes on us and I don’t want him getting ideas about what this thing is between Savannah and me.

“Too bad.”