Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Victoria’s POV

Miles let out a soft, genuine laugh, shaking his head immediately.

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“Elijah didn’t send me here, Tori. Believe it or not, I actually did come over to see Adele. But sitting here looking at you.. as a best friend to Elijah, and as someone who considers himself a friend to you, too, I feel the absolute need to be a mediator. I can’t just sit back and watch this.”

“You knew about it,” I stated, the words coming out flat, accusing. “The entire time, you knew what he was doing?”

Miles went quiet for a moment, his eyes dropping to the coffee table between us. He didn’t flinch away from the accusation, which somehow made it worse.

Then, slowly, he shook his head.

“Not at the beginning,” Miles admitted, his voice dropping an octave. “When he first started hanging around you, I thought he was just being his usual enigmatic self. But a few weeks ago… he confessed everything to me. He told me the whole setup.

I opened my mouth, a sharp, angry retort about loyalty and lies rising to my lips, but Miles quickly lifted a hand, cutting me off before I could start.

“No, listen to me, Victoria,” he said firmly, anchoring his gaze to mine. “I never supported what he did. As a matter of fact, the exact second he told me, I cursed him out. I told him he was being an idiot and encouraged him to come let you know immediately, before the whole thing got out of hand and blew up in his face. I told him you deserved the truth.”

He paused, staring at me, his eyes full of heavy, complicated regret.

“But he was terrified. I understood that he needed to do it on his own time, when he felt the moment was right. Unfortunately, Alison has a big mouth, and it happened in the worst possible way.”

Miles shifted on the cushion, turning his entire body toward me.

“I care about you, Tori. And I care about Elijah. Watching the two of you right now… this separation is completely eating both of you alive, and I’m not going to sit around and pretend I don’t see it. He’s a ghost walking around his condo, and you’re hiding out forty-five minutes away from campus, refusing to eat. I want you guys to reconcile. I want you to at least talk things out.”

“Miles, please-

“Just listen to him,” Miles pushed gently, his hand reaching out slightly before resting back on his knee.

“I know it’s going to be incredibly difficult to forgive something like this. I get it. The deceit, the absolute pain of knowing he preyed on your vulnerability when you were already down about Caleb… it’s a massive hill to climb. But-

“It hurts, Miles,” I interrupted, the words tearing out of my chest as a hot, violent sob finally broke through my restraint.

The noodle bowl slipped from my lap, tilting dangerously against the cushion before Miles lunged forward, catching the edge of it and setting it safely down on the wooden coffee table.

The tears came in an instant, thick and burning, blurring my vision until Miles’ face was just a dark shadow against the lamplight.

I covered my face with both hands, my shoulders shaking violently as the exhaustion and betrayal of the last few days completely overwhelmed me.

“It’s so difficult. I care about him so much, but what he did… the way he looked at me and planned it… how am I supposed to

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Chapter 110

just move past that?”

Miles didn’t say anything right away. He didn’t offer an empty cliché advice or tell me to stop crying.

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Instead, he quietly shifted off the sofa, moving to the small armchair that sat right next to my side of the couch, bringing himself into my corner.

He reached over, gently pulling my hands away from my face, and drew me forward into a firm, solid hug.

I didn’t resist him. I collapsed against his shoulder, burying my face into the rough cotton of his black t-shirt, my fingers clutching at his sleeve as I wept.

He felt like an older brother in that moment, giving me something to lean on while everything else in my life was falling apart.

He kept one hand on the back of my head, quietly letting me empty out every ounce of grief I had been storing up since that afternoon at the diner.

When the gasps finally began to slow down and my breathing turned into small, shaky hitches, Miles gently gripped my shoulders, pulling back just enough to look down at me.

He reached into his jogger pocket and pulled out a clean, folded white handkerchief, pressing it gently into my palm.

“Here,” he murmured. “Wipe your face, Tori.”

I took it, dabbing at my wet eyes and blowing my nose, feeling incredibly small and entirely exposed.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, staring down at my lap. “I’m a mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Miles waved me off, leaning back in the armchair but keeping his eyes locked onto mine. “I understand, Tori. I really, truly do understand why you’re furious. I get what Carter did, and he deserves to sweat for it.”

He paused, leaning forward again, his expression turning intensely serious.

“But it hurts you more than just the deceit, doesn’t it? And you know that, Victoria. It cuts this deep because it’s not just about a broken agreement anymore.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, hugging my elbows tight. My lip trembled before I pressed them together, trying to hold it in.

“It hurts this much because you love him,” Miles said softly, the words hanging in the quiet air of the apartment like a sudden lantern in the dark.

“You’ve fallen for Elijah, Tori. That’s why the lie feels like it’s killing you.”

Hearing Miles say those words out loud made it impossible to keep lying to myself.

The room seemed to go entirely still. For weeks, I had told myself we were just partners, that we were friends who understood each other, that the butterflies in my stomach were just a reaction to his proximity.

I had convinced myself that my heart belonged to Caleb, that I was just recovering from a childhood rejection.

But it was a lie. A lie I had been telling myself.

The absolute agony tearing through my chest right now wasn’t because an acquaintance had tricked me.

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