Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Victoria

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After I was done with my second-to-last university paper, a strange kind of relief filled my lungs. I knew she-meaning my brain-was already anticipating tomorrow, which was my final paper.

The thought brought a genuine sense of freedom; after tomorrow, I wouldn’t have to read or open a textbook for a long, long time before eventually heading off to start my master’s degree. I was finally at the finish line.

With that blissful realization propelling me forward, my feet naturally took me straight toward Bean Cafe/

I pushed the glass door open, the aroma of dark roasted beans instantly filling my nostrils.

I couldn’t help but mock myself as I waited in line. About two weeks ago, I’d teased Elijah for coming here, claiming he had zero taste in coffee and that the roast tasted like burnt dirt.

Yet, somehow, without me even realizing it, the place had grown on me. Or maybe I just missed the argument.

“One iced vanilla latte, please,” I told the barista, handing over my card.

Once the plastic cup was in my hand, I offered a quick thank you and pushed my way back out onto the sunny sidewalk.

I took a long, cold sip, letting the caffeine start the slow process of reviving my dead brain cells.

I didn’t even see the kid coming.

Thump.

A tiny force crashed straight into my shins, nearly sending my iced coffee flying. I stumbled back a step, steadying the cup just in time.

“Oh! Careful there, sweetie,” I blurted out, looking down.

Standing in front of me was a little girl, couldn’t be older than five or six. She had massive, bright brown eyes that blinked up at me with a mixture of confusion and pure innocence.

She was clutching something tightly against her overalls.

My initial annoyance evaporated. I knelt down to her eye level, balancing my coffee on my knee.

“Hey there. Are you lost? Where’s your mom?”

The little girl didn’t answer. Instead, a massive grin broke across her face, exposing a missing front tooth.

She extended her small hands, thrusting a bundle of items toward my chest.

It was a single, long-stemmed red rose, a small neatly wrapped gift box, and an envelope with my name written across the

front.

My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t need to open the letter. I didn’t need to ask who it was from. I recognized that elegant. slightly slanted handwriting anywhere.

Elijah.

“A handsome prince told me to give you these,” the little girl chirped, her voice high and proud, clearly taking her job very seriously.

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Chapter 111

1 froze, my fingers wrapping around the stem of the rose. The thorns had been carefully stripped off.

“A prince?” I repeated softly.

“Uh-huh! He told me to tell you that you’re super-duper beautiful,” she said, bouncing slightly on her heels “And that you’re even more beautiful when you smile. Oh, and he hopes your exams go really, really well, and he wants to hear from you

soon!”

She delivered the rehearsed speech in one breath, looking incredibly pleased with herself.

A traitorous warmth bloomed in my chest. My lips twitched, fighting against a smile that desperately wanted to break free.

I looked up, my eyes instantly scanning the bustling street. I looked across the road, toward the park benches, into the windows of the neighboring shops, looking for that familiar tall frame, those obsidian eyes, that stupidly perfect hair.

There was no sign of him. The sidewalk was just filled with strangers hurrying past.

“Did the prince say where he was going?” I asked the little girl, looking back down.

She shook her head vigorously, already losing interest now that her mission was complete.

“Nope. Can I go back to my mommy now? She’s over there.” She pointed toward a woman waving at us from a nearby bench

“Yes, of course. Thank you, sweetie,” I said, forcing a soft tone.

She spun around and skipped away, leaving me kneeling on the pavement like a fool, holding a single rose and a mystery box.

I stood up, adjusting the items in my arms.

Looking down at the envelope, a heavy sigh escaped my lips.

Okay, fine. That was sweet. It was incredibly sweet, and the tightness that had been sitting in my chest for the past week loosened just a fraction. But as I started walking down the street toward Adele’s apartment, I hardened my expression.

If Elijah thought a cute kid and a flower were going to wipe away everything, he had another thing coming. He was going to have to work a lot harder than this to get back into my good graces.

The hotter he crawled, the better. I wasn’t giving in that easily.

Still, I didn’t put the rose in the trash. I held it close to my chest the entire walk home.

Elijah’s POV

From the front seat of my parked sedan across the street, I exhaled a breath I felt like I’d been holding for days.

Through the tinted windshield, I watched Victoria stand up, clutching the rose and the box against her jacket.

For a split second, before she caught herself, a genuine smile broke across her face. It was small, but it was there. Relief poured through me, cooling the anxiety that had been burning a hole in my stomach all afternoon.

I’d managed to break through. Just a little bit.

Through the rearview mirror, I watched her head turn, her dark eyes scanning the crowds on the sidewalk. She was looking

for me.

I instinctively leaned back into the shadows of my car, even though I knew she couldn’t see through the glass.

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Sat, Jul 18

Chapter 111

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