Meant For You

thirty-three.

Miles Dempsey

I stepped into Target on a Tuesday afternoon, taken aback by the bustling crowd. Shouldn't everyone be at work or school? Thankfully, I was wearing my go-to disguise, a New York Yankees cap and sunglasses. It might not be much, but it usually did the trick.

Shielding my eyes behind the sunglasses, I scanned my surroundings. The checkout lines stretched endlessly, and a pang of regret hit me. I'd only come here for two things, and now I wished I'd chosen a different store. My attention was drawn to two guys in line, holding vases and bouquets of flowers. My gaze traced over the rest of the people in line, revealing an array of chocolates, flowers, candy, and stuffed animals.

Pulling out my phone, I glanced at the date. February 14. Valentine's Day. What a ridiculous holiday.

My minds been all over the place. I hadn't even realized Valentine's Day was approaching. Not that I cared; I wasn't in a relationship. Still, I couldn't help but wish I'd chosen a different day to venture out of my house.

Since I was already here, I headed over to the razor section. Mine had given out that morning, and I needed a new one for our upcoming game in New York. With that sorted, I sought out the supplement and vitamin aisle. Melatonin was my current need; sleep had eluded me for the past two weeks.

"Miles Dempsey?" A voice I didn't recognize pulled me from my thoughts. I turned towards it, finding a young kid standing there, clearly a fan. Shit. "Oh, man, I knew you looked familiar!" His grin was infectious. I couldn't be an asshole now. I just hoped no one around us had overheard. "Hey, man. Nice to meet you." I extended my hand for a dap, which he eagerly met.

"I can't believe I'm meeting you. I'm such a huge fan," he declared enthusiastically. "Can we take a picture?" I rarely said no to a picture, so I snapped a quick picture with the kid. "I don't want to take up your time, but you're a big inspiration to me. I'm from Vancouver, I play hockey at school, and I'm...adopted too."

His words strike me like a lightning bolt. While the world knew this fact about me, hearing it from someone else still caught me off guard. I hadn't met anyone who shared that in common with me and were fans of mine.

"It's just crazy to me how much I look up to you and we have that in common. I don't know if you have yet but I actually just reconnected with my birth parents last year. It was...mad. In a good way of course. Anddddd I'm rambling, let me shut up." He chuckles awkwardly. In that moment, my heart raced as fast as his words.

My thoughts had largely avoided my birth parents since Christmas, until now. The reminder was a slap to my face. "It's okay, no worries. Thank you, man. I'm glad it went well for you; that's really great. You enjoying the season so far? I hope we're making you proud." I tried to keep things light and put him at ease.

His brown eyes light up and he nods eagerly. "Hell yeah! Will you say hi to Jason Tayler for me? Would you mind saying hi to Jason Tayler for me? I'm Adam. He's my favorite player after you and Vail." Tate. Deciding to make the kid's day, I dialed up JT and Tate on FaceTime. We chatted briefly with each of them. Luckily, no one seemed to notice me except Adam.

After our farewells, I grabbed my melatonin, and left the store. As I hopped into my car, my heart rate slowly returned to normal. I tried not to dwell on the reason behind my rapid heartbeat. What were the odds of crossing paths with that kid today? Someone who looked up to me and shared my backstory.

The only difference was that he had met his birth parents, and I hadn't.

And I never would.

My phone rang, interrupting my ugly thoughts. Kaitlyn's name flashed on the console. My brows furrowed, but I answered. "Yes?" I greeted. "Shush. Oh - you! Hey, Miles! Want to join Tate and me for dinner tonight?" Kaitlyn's usual cheerfulness came through my speakers. I could tell she was talking to Tate in the background just then.