Page 4 of Perfect Score

I am happy.

She has nothing to worry about.

And at twenty-nine years old, I still have years to go before marriage should even be on my mind.

“Gran, I can’t go out with her.”

I hear her huff on the other end and the sound of other cheery women’s voices like she just walked into an event at the center.

“Why the hell not?” she demands.

Come on, Brent, you’re the king of come-backs, and now your ninety-year-old grandmother has you tongue-tied? Jesus, you’d better up your game before your grandmother agrees to a betrothal between you and her neighbor's dog-face granddaughter for a dowry of dissolvable condoms and a year's supply of the little blue pill.

“Because I already have a girlfriend,” I blurt out. “I was planning to surprise you at your party tomorrow, and now you’ve just ruined everything.”

It’s a bold face lie but I don’t feel bad about it. She brought this upon herself.

“You’re bringing a girlfriend to my party?" she asks, the excitement in voice making me feel a little bad for my lie. “Oh, Brent! This makes me so happy. I can’t remember the last time you brought home a young lady.”

Me neither.

I don’t think I have since before my parents passed. My focus became taking care of my younger sister Tessa as her legal guardian, making sure my grandmother is looked after, andgetting picked up as a rookie for a pro hockey team to provide a better life for both of them.

It feels like I’ve been running to keep up ever since.

Now that Tessa is finally settled with Lake, I have one less thing occupying my thoughts. Only to be replaced with this new lie I fed my grandmother.

I have no idea how I’m going to pull this off, considering I don’t have a girlfriend and I’m not bringing a plus one to David’s wedding.

A real girlfriend isn’t an option since I’m not seeing anyone seriously. And finding someone to fake it in a matter of hours seems unlikely.

If this was all happening in Seattle, I wouldn’t have any trouble finding a temporary girlfriend to get my grandmother off my case but I’m too short on time to ask any of the women I’ve dated casually, and I’m not as well connected in San Diego as I was when I grew up there.

Besides, asking a woman that I’m not dating seriously if she wants to fly to San Diego on a whim to meet my grandmother and attend a wedding over the Christmas break is a bad idea. Not unless I’m ready to get tagged in the Pinterest board of nursery ideas for our unborn children that I have no intention of having with her.

That’s a rookie mistake and not one I’m desperate enough to make.

Still, I need to come up with a solution… and fast.

All the women I know in San Diego are married… mostly to my friends and my grandmother has attended all of their weddings. She’d know if I tried to pass one of them off as my fake girlfriend.

“Yep. She’s really excited to meet you,” I say, sucking in my lower lip to wet it.

I glance back up and see the undeniable look of interest in the pretty flight attendant's eyes.

Maybe asking the flight attendant to be my girlfriend for a few days would work. But what are the chances that she has the weekend off in San Diego?

“You just made my birthday!” she giggles, “Hey love, I have to get going. I can’t wait to see you. Have a safe flight, sweetie, and I’ll see you tomorrow for my birthday party,” she says.

Saying “Have a safe flight” means a lot more to us than I think it does for most, and it squeezes at my chest.

“Yeah, see you soon,” I tell her.

As I hang up with my grandmother, I look back up at the flight attendant. She might be my only hope.

This time, her eyes don’t meet mine as she’s staring out of the aircraft's open door.

Oh, right… the missing passenger.

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