Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 102

Victoria’s POV

The afternoon sun was fully out by the time I crossed the central quad, the heat baking the concrete walkways.

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True to Elijah’s prediction, the back of my throat felt like sandpaper the exact second the proctor collected my exam booklet.

I pulled the cold bottle of lemonade out of my tote bag, pressing the chilled glass against my cheek for a brief second before twisting the cap off.

It was still remarkably cold, the tart flavor cutting right through the lingering exhaustion of the last three hours.

I checked my phone as I walked. I had texted Elijah the absolute second I walked out of the examination hall, and it had already been thirty minutes without a response.

He was probably still buried under his behavioral criminology essay prompts.

“Hey, Tori!”

I looked up at the sound of my name, spotting Adele jogging across the grass toward me.

A massive, unmistakable grin was plastered across her face, which told me everything I need to know about how her own papers had gone.

“Tell me you survived,” she said, pulling me into a quick, enthusiastic hug.

“Barely.” I laughed, returning the hug. “Fluid mechanics is behind me, and that’s all that matters right now. How was yours?”

“Flawless. I actually think I aced it,” she beamed, falling into step beside me. “Come on, celebrate with me. Let me buy you lunch at that noodle place downtown.”

“I’d love to, but I actually have somewhere to be right now,” I said, taking another sip of the lemonade.

Adele stopped walking, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Where could you possibly need to go right after our very first paper?”

“I’m actually heading over to see Caleb,” I explained, shifting my tote bag to my other shoulder.

“Oh,” Adele said, her face instantly relaxing in realization as she nodded. “Right. Well, then we can just go together.”

“Adele, you really don’t have to drag yourself all the way over there with me,” I tried to protest, but she just fanned her hand in the air to dismiss my words.

“Lead the way. I have nothing but time.”

We turned toward the campus exit, the dry leaves crunching beneath our sneakers. “Did you drive today?” I asked her.

“Actually, I didn’t bring it,” Adele replied, adjusting the strap of her bag. “Miles dropped me off this morning.”

I didn’t read any deeper meaning into that. They had been incredibly close friends for as long as I could remember, so it wasn’t unusual.

I actually stayed over at his place last night,” she continued, checking her screen. “I texted him when I got out, but he hasn’t answered yet. He’s probably still writing his statistics test. I’m basically moving into his apartment until the end of the week because my off-campus place is way too far from the testing centers. Miles is just closer to everything.”

11:39 Sat, Jul 11

Chapter 104

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“That makes sense,” I noted, looking down the long avenue ahead of us. “Well, the walk to Caleb’s isn’t exactly short from this side of campus.”

Adele shrugged, offering a playful smile. “Look at the bright side. At least we’ll hit our ten-thousand steps for the day.”

We both laughed, the conversation flowing easily as we left the university grounds behind.

We spent the next fifteen minutes venting about professors, dissecting tricky questions, and exchanging hopes that the rest of the guys were finding their papers just as manageable.

By the time we turned the corner onto Caleb’s street, eighteen minutes had passed, and the heavy stress had finally begun to evaporate from my shoulders.

We entered the apartment building and took the elevator up to Caleb’s unit. As the elevator began its ascent, Adele turned her back to the mirrored wall, looking at me thoughtfully.

“So. who exactly is Caleb to you?” she asked, her tone genuinely curious. “Have you two always been that close?”

I smiled, a warm feeling settling in my chest.

“I’ve known him since I was seven years old. We grew up down the street from each other. He’s literally just my best friend.”

Adele nodded slowly, processing the answer.

I waited, my heart doing a slow, painful thud against my ribs. A quiet tension tightened in my throat as I braced myself, hoping she wasn’t about to repeat the exact same line I’d heard from everyone else over the past few weeks-the exhausting observations about how my old feelings for Caleb were painfully obvious.

But Adele just looked coolly ahead, the thought seemingly completely absent from her mind.

The elevator doors opened with a soft chime, and I let out a silent breath of gratitude.

We stepped out into the quiet hallway and walked down to his door. I reached out and rang the bell.

A few seconds later, the door swung open to reveal a woman in scrubs.

“Sarah!” I smiled, instantly recognizing the nurse. “Hi.”

“Victoria, hello!” she replied warmly. It was the exact same nurse who had taken care of Caleb months ago when he severely sprained his ankle.

Adele gave me a small nudge toward the back hallway. “I’ll just wait here in the living room. Go ahead.”

I thanked her and walked down the familiar corridor to Caleb’s bedroom. Standing outside the wood paneling, I knocked twice, keeping my voice soft.

“Caleb?”

I didn’t want a repeat of last time, where I had walked in entirely unannounced while he was half-naked. A muffled, groggy sound came from inside the room.

Taking a breath. I pushed the door open and stepped into the dim space.

Caleb was lying on his stomach across the mattress, his face buried sideways in a pillow.

Caleb I called out gently, walking over to the edge of the bed.

Tom

he mumbled, his eyes blinking open.

Chapter 104

Slowly, with a visible effort, he shifted his body to face me.

A spike of worry hit me at how exhausted he looked. I quickly sat on the edge of the mattress, leaning over him.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

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He let out a tired chuckle, a faint smile touching his lips. “Nothing is wrong. I’m just completely dead from studying.”

“How are your exams even working right now?” I asked, looking at his wrapped leg. “How did your papers go today?”

Caleb’s smile widened slightly, a trace of genuine disbelief in his eyes. “My dad actually talked to the academic board. They’re letting me postpone the remaining papers until I’m completely healed.”

I blinked, thoroughly surprised. Seeing the shock registered on my face, Caleb let out a stronger laugh. “Yeah, I know. I had the exact same look on my face when my mom told me.”

“Well,” I said, adjusting the blanket near his shoulder. “Hopefully he’s finally coming to his senses and changing his mind about a few things. Maybe the accident actually taught him a lesson about your importance.”

Caleb nodded in quiet agreement, his expression softening.

“How was your paper?”

“It was fine. Tough, but I handled it,” I replied. “The next one isn’t for another two days, so I actually have a bit of breathing room to study.”

We talked for a few more minutes before I realized how long Adele had been sitting by herself in the front room. I stood up, smoothing down my shirt.

“I should probably head out, Caleb. I have a friend waiting for me in the living room,” Only then did it occur to me that I’d never warned him.

“Hey, I’m really sorry for bringing someone over without telling you first. I know you’re recovering and probably weren’t expecting company.”

Caleb just smiled, waving his hand off to dismiss the apology entirely.

“Tori, come on. You can’t even hurt a fly, so there’s no way you’d make friends with somebody who is most likely to kill me or put me in harm’s way. I’m sure she’s harmless. I forgive you.”

I smiled, the knot of worry leaving my chest as I let out a soft breath. “Thank you.”

He nodded, understanding. I leaned down to give him a quick, careful hug, wishing him well and telling him to actually rest instead of staring at his textbooks all afternoon.

When I walked back out into the living room. Adele wasn’t there, but I found someone else.

It was Nova.

“Oh. hi. Victoria,” Nova waved, standing up as I entered.

Hey, Nova, I replied.

She offered a tired smile, gesturing to the massive textbook resting open on her lap. “You look how I feel. First paper rough?”

“Brutal” I admitted, letting my shoulders drop in a heavy sigh. “But at least the first hurdle is out of the way. How about

yours

Nova let out a breathless laugh, running a hand through her hair. “Survived. Barely. But we’re officially in the game now. I

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Chapter 104

really can’t wait until we’re done.”

“Me too.”

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