Page 61 of One Touch

However, the closer I got to the parking lot, the more I knew I wouldn’t leave until I knew he was safe. I might be angry he hadn’t told me about his plans, but I would never leave him.

I scowled at the driver despite knowing it wasn’t his fault. He ignored me and opened the door. I slid into the car and instantly spotted Miller’s phone. Well, at least I knew he wasn’t ignoring me. Sliding down the window, I opted to try one more time to ask for help.

“Yes, Mr. Silver?”

“Did Mr. Fahn say where he would be?”

He blinked and turned to face me. “He was doing a meet and greet after for some of the youth from Rainbow Lounge.”

Shit. That’s right. He’d told me, but it went in one ear and disappeared like everything to do with the center.

“Right. I knew that. How long is he going to be? He left his phone.”

“Uh, I believe he said he’d get a ride home.”

“Of course.” And if I had to guess, Toby had quickly volunteered for the job. Fucking hell. “Do you happen to know where they were meeting? I don’t want him to be without his phone.”

“I believe it was in one of the family rooms.”

“Yes, good. Okay, I’ll be right back.”

I slid out of the car before he could open the door for me. I had Miller’s phone clutched in one hand and my ID tag in the other. My heart thudded loudly in my chest, and an urgency I wasn’t used to off the ice encouraged me to hurry.

The guard nodded at my arrival, and some teammates headed out as I re-entered the facility. I clumsily hurried down the hallway, peeking into rooms as I passed. When I came upon their room, my heart lurched to my throat. Toby was in there, but Miller paid him no attention despite the asshat’s preening.

His focus was on a teenager with a purple streak in his hair as he talked a mile a minute. Miller smiled and nodded like he didn’t mind at all that the kid was talking faster than was humanly possible to understand. When the kid took a breath, Miller easily slipped off a bracelet and slid it onto his arm.

“So you don’t feel so alone,” he said just as he spotted me hovering in the doorway. The room turned at his gaze, all eyes on me.

It’s just kids,I reminded myself.

“Hey, you forgot your phone.” I held up the device and stepped forward.

“You’re Lathan Silver,” the kid with the purple streak said with awe.

“Uh, yeah. You like hockey?”

“Do I like hockey?” he gasped. “It’s the only sport that matters. I play for a rec team but hope to make a junior league one day.”

“Ah, that’s cool. Um, do you have something you’d want me to sign?”

His eyes lit up, and he nodded like a bobblehead. He shoved a jersey in my hands, and I took the marker Miller handed me. The kid stared at me in silence as I uncapped it and signed my name next to Miller’s.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks,” he whispered, and Miller smiled fondly at the boy.

“I gotta go, Ace, but I’ll see you next week at the center.”

“‘Kay,” he said, but his eyes hadn’t left my signature.

Miller snorted and squeezed his shoulder before directing me out of the room. He waved to a few people, but no one stopped him, and we were soon headed out of the stadium.

“Thanks for doing that,” he said once we were inside the car. “Ace is a big fan and loves the game. You just made his year.”

“It’s no problem.” I cleared my throat. “Do you get to interact with a lot of the kids?”

“It depends on our schedule. I met Ace my first day there, and we connected. He’s kind of shy until you get to know him. Since we met, he’s been coming back more. He’s a foster kid and doesn’t feel safe being himself at home, but the center allows him the space. Tonight was his first NHL game.”

---