Page 92 of Perfect Score

I have to get to him, and I have to get to him now.

I swipe the rental car key and the trail mix, cramming them both in my camera bag and dash to the door, grabbing my purse on the way out.

With my current tunnel vision, I don’t care about my luggage or any of my equipment. I have to clear up what Brent saw and that’s more important than anything else.

I get downstairs in my dress and wish I would at least have grabbed my sneakers. Stopping now isn’t an option.

I see Gran standing by the door, looking around.

“Gran?”

Her right hand grips at her chest in relief. “Oh, thank God, I thought I missed you. I need to tell you something," she says, reaching out to take my hand.

This must be important if she was worried that she had already missed me leaving.

“What? What is it?”

“I thought Brent would grow a pair and tell you himself, but you need to know something about the man you’re about to marry. I can’t let you do it without knowing everything.”

“The man I’m about to marry?” I ask. She's lost me now.

Who is she talking about?

“Brent said that you picked Liam.”

So, he did see Liam propose.

“You saw Brent? When?”

I look past her out towards the parking lot.

“He's already left and is headed for the airport. I couldn’t get him to stay and talk to you. He should have told you that Liam called him the night of prom and threatened that taking you to prom would cost Brent his friendship with Liam. Brent had already lost so much that year… he couldn’t lose Liam too.”

Shock shoots down my spine at what she just told me. It makes perfect sense too. Brent and Liam were so close then.

“Brent told you that?” I ask.

“Liam told him that he was headed to San Diego that night to take you to prom. He didn’t show up, so it would look like Brent stood you up, and then he showed up the next day to save theday. Liam wanted to make sure that you’d never consider Brent again.”

I want to say that I can’t believe Liam would do this, but I’d be lying to myself about Liam… again. Now I know why I always felt like I needed Liam—he made sure I felt lost without him.

“I have to go. I have to find him.”

“Go honey,” she says and steps out of the way.

I drive like a bat out of hell to the airport. Between traffic and having to drop off the car rental at the rental parking lot, I am running to make his flight barefoot. I try not to think of how much sidewalk gum my feet have touched at this point.

I get to the counter agent, and she takes one look at my evening gown. Her face scrunches up like she senses that this will be the weirdest exchange of her career.

“Please, the man I love is on that flight, and he just saw my ex propose to me. I need to get on board to tell him that he didn’t see it right.”

“Couldn’t you just call him?” she asks with a reasonable solution.

“He turned his phone off. Please,” I beg, leaning my arms across the desk.

I summon my best version of the sad dogs on those animal shelter commercials that always make me want to cry.

I’d bet money those animals are paid actors.

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