Page 94 of Match Penalty

Angelica turns to face me, and I'm struck by the guilt in her expression. "Because he thinks protecting the people he loves means sacrificing himself. Even if it costs him everything."

She takes a deep breath. "That night in San Diego... I was the one driving the car."

Shock hits me harder than I expect. "What?"

"I had gotten some bad news… a setback on a case I've been working on for years. I was a mess, drinking too much at the party downstairs. This football player wouldn't leave me alone, kept getting handsy..." She wraps her arms around herself, the memory clearly painful. "I called JP in a panic—he was with you."

My throat tightens as pieces start falling into place. "You knew he was with me?"

"He's never shut up about you. He texted me when you showed up to the party. He was so happy. Meeting you all those years ago changed him into a better person. You need to know that."

"So, you two…" I start, hoping she will finish the rest for me.

Her nose wrinkles at the thought of what I'm insinuating. "Listen, I know what you're thinking, but he's not my type and even if he were, I spent a lot of years front row to JP being… well, a man-slut, for lack of a better word. Not to mention that he threw up on me in high school at his mom's third wedding," she grimaces. "There are just some things you never come back from. But we've always been fiercely protective of each other. I spent my life in foster care with no real family, and as you probably know… his family sucks, so we sort of made our own—just the two of us. That's why when I called… he showed up."

My brain is reeling with this new information.

"So if he wasn't taking you home to…" I can't even say the words out loud.

"He told me he needed to go back up, to let you know what was happening. But I was drunk and scared and stupid." Angelica's voice cracks. "I grabbed his keys and ran to his car. He barely made it into the passenger seat before I took off. I missed the turn and we ended up hitting the guardrail."

"Oh my God," I say.

"I still feel guilty about everything. I could have killed us. And then JP called an ambulance for me and moved me into the passenger side so that he would take the fall."

The missed calls, the desperate voicemails, the way he tried to explain but never gave away what happened that night.

"You're the one that got the DUI expunged," I say, piecing it together. "But why would he take the fall?"

"Because I'm working on a huge non-profit court case fighting for foster kids who are stuck in the system, and a DUI would have gotten me dropped from the case I've been working on for years. It's the same case that I was upset about at the party."

I scratch the top of my brow trying to piece all of this together. "So, why hasn't he said any of this to me?" I ask.

"In the state of California, JP could do ten years in prison for tampering with evidence, and I could do ten years for lying to the police to protect him. The statute of limitations is three years. We agreed to wait to tell you until then. But he's lost so much trying to protect us both, and now he's losing it all again after building it back up. I can't let him do this."

Suddenly, everything makes sense.

His secret, their close bond, his DUI getting expunged—her becoming a sports talent agent to help him get back what he lost. Everything is fitting into place. Except one thing… breaking it off after the bar.

I flash her the puck he gave me. The silver marker visible.

She reads it and gives me a small smile. "He loves you Cammy—he always has. He called me the first night over four years ago when he tossed you that first puck. He said you turned him down. Do you know what I asked him?" she says, walking over and taking a seat on my desk.

I shake my head. The idea that he would have called her that night and told her about me means something. That night was as significant to him as it was to me.

"I teased him, asking him if you were the one. And his reply was instant. He said ‘yes,’" she smiles. "He didn't want to leave you that night. I'm the one that made him. And I promise you that his secrets have only been to protect me. It's been killing him not to tell you."

I sink into one of the reception chairs, the room spinning slightly.

Angelica nods. "He went to jail for me. Lost his spot with the Blue Devils. Lost you." She meets my eyes. "I've spent the last year and a half trying to make it right. Got his record expunged, helped him rebuild his career. But I couldn't fix what mattered most to him—getting you back."

"Then why did he break it off after the fight at Oakley's?" My voice breaks on the question.

She takes in a deep sigh.

"He has this idea that loving him means getting hurt. His mom, me, you..."

"Where is he?" I stand up, suddenly desperate to find him. "I need to—"

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