Page 46 of The Endowment Effect

Yesterday, while sitting at Bernadette’s kitchen table, he had come the closest to kissing her and she had wanted him to.

In the past, there were the times she would catch him staring at her mouth. She would instinctively lean toward him. As if woken from a trance, he’d pull away and cause some type of distraction.

There were rumors of some of the other ninth graders doing more adult things. Allowing boys to get to third base becoming the norm and sliding into home more and more whispered about.

In her heart, Birdie knew Lucas would take it slow. Give them time to settle into these new feelings. But that was no longer the concern. Or an option.

After what happened last night and Maisie’s comments about Lucas’s declining reputation, she knew there was no way she could, in good conscience, nurture the attraction. On top of that, there was no way Maisie wouldn’t find out. And she didn’t want to think about what her messed-up mother might do, raining hellfire on her and Lucas.

Closing her locker after she put the last book in her bag, he leaned his shoulder against the wall. “You’ll need to wait for me a while longer today. Coach said it’s gonna be a long practice. Says we’re going back to fundamentals. He calls it Kill Drills.” He pushed off the locker and started backing away, as if it were a foregone conclusion she’d wait for him. Like she always did.

That was no longer possible.

“Can’t go home with you. I’ve got plans.” She avoided his eyes.

He stopped moving, his eyebrows furrowed. “What kind of plans?”

“Just some stuff I need to do.” She kept moving past him, because if he could see her face, he’d sniff out her lies.

He caught up to her, smiled, and flipped a strand of her hair. “Like fix this?”

“Yeah, fix stuff.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow then.” He turned and jogged away, catching up with one of his teammates who was also making his way to the locker room.

The following day, she came up with another excuse.

And the next.

Until he no longer bothered to ask her to wait for him.

And if she wanted… affection. It would have to be from someone other than Lucas Santos.

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