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Her lips turn down as she rests her forearms on the table. "I mean it could be if—"

"Bridget, no. In what world?"

"Oh, come on, Nora." She sits forward in her distressed, black metal seat. "Mom's not here. You can be honest without the usual grilling."

I pause, inhaling a deep breath. "Honest about what?"

My sister runs her finger along the rim of her mug, staring at it like she's trying to decide how honest she should be.

"Don't get shy on me now, B. Go on, say it."

She huffs out a breath, her eyes meeting mine again. "You don't think I actually believed you were into any of those guys you brought home in college did you?"

I stare at her blankly.

"Or from Ashford, for that matter?"

I suck my teeth, challenging her. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Nora…" She gives me one more chance to fess up, and when I don't, she rolls her eyes. "Thad? You really expected me to believe you were into Thad?"

I blink at her slowly. "He was fine."

"He was a douche," Bridget says flatly.

I open my mouth, then close it again, taking a sip of coffee I don't need.

She watches me over the rim of her mug, then sighs and sets it down on the deep, cherry wood table. "You never looked at any of them the way you used to look at him. Never talked about them that way either."

My lips freeze around the straw, my hand holding the cup too tightly for the flimsy plastic that it's in. "That was a long time ago."

"Nora."

There's my name again. But this time she says it differently.

Because now she's not teasing anymore.

"You left Mage," she continues, her voice softer now. "But you never moved on."

I let out an uncomfortable laugh that doesn't even sound like me. "You don't know that."

She tilts her head. "You think just because you brought a new loser home every time you came back for a break or a holiday, that you were convincing?"

"Well… I don't anymore."

We chuckle quietly, Bridget stopping first.

"I saw him," I admit.

"You said that."

I shake my head. "I saw him today."

Bridget freezes, her hand wrapped around her mug.

"At the hospital," I add. "His sister had a consult."

She lifts one brow slowly. "And?"