Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 184

I’m Fine, Mom

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Victoria’s POV

The morning sun hit the long wooden dining table, the atmosphere inside the cabin heavy, silent, and suffocatingly tense.

The only sounds filling the room were the faint clinking of silverware against porcelain plates and the gentle summer wind rustling through the trees outside the open patio doors.

Nobody was really eating. We just pushed food around our plates, staring down as if the wood grain held the secrets to the universe.

I sat beside Elijah, silently picking at a piece of toast, my mind racing in circles.

I was still in pain–a deep, hollow ache that made my throat feel dry every time I swallowed.

I really couldn’t believe Caleb had done this to me.

Like Elijah had pointed out last night, deep down in those early years, I had suspected it. I had felt the uneasy truth lingering under the surface.

But actually hearing it? Knowing he had consciously used my affection for his own comfort while watching me lose my mind trying to be enough for him… it was a level of cruelty I hadn’t thought him capable of.

A chair scraped against the floorboards as Coach Miller stood up at the head of the table. He gathered his napkins, clearing his throat as he looked around at all of us.

“Good morning, everyone,” Coach said, his tone low and even.

A few scattered, quiet mumbles of “Good morning, Coach” echoed around the room.

Coach rested his hands on the back of his chair, taking a slow breath.

“This summer was supposed to be about enjoyment. It was meant to be a time to leave your baggage behind, to relax, and to find some peace and closure together before you all step into the draft and start your professional lives. This trip was meant to be one of your final moments as a team before everything changes.”

He paused, letting the weight of his words settle over the room before his expression hardened slightly.

“I am not pleased with what happened last night,” he continued, his eyes sweeping over the table.

“In fact, I am thoroughly disappointed by what has been going on in this house over the last few days.”

A couple of the guys opened their mouths to speak, but Coach raised a hand, cutting them off before an apology could start.

“I don’t want excuses,” he said firmly. “I am asking you all, as adults, not to let your temper or your personal baggage get the better of you. You are better than this. Act like it.”

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11:33 Tue, Aug 25

Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captams

While he spoke, his gaze lingered directly on Elijah and Caleb.

Coach turned his full attention toward Elijah, raising an eyebrow.

“Carter, do you have anything you want to say to the group?”

Beside me, I felt Elijah’s thigh tense as his fingers clenched into a tight fist over his napkin.

Slowly, he pushed his chair back and stood up, his jaw set in a hard, rigid line.

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I apologize to everyone for causing a scene last night,” Elijah said, his voice clipped and controlled. “It was unprofessional, and it won’t happen again.”

He sat back down without another word. Coach nodded once, then shifted his eyes down the table.

“Caleb?”

Caleb cleared his throat, a rough, rasping sound. For the first time all morning, I finally lifted my eyes to look at him.

His face was a wreck. His lower lip was split and swollen, a deep purple bruise blooming across his right cheekbone, and a small white bandage was taped over the bridge of his nose.

Our eyes met across the table for a split second. I could see the thick layer of guilt and raw regret pooling in his green eyes, but it didn’t move me.

It didn’t trigger a single drop of sympathy in my chest.

I simply turned my face away, staring back down at my plate.

Years ago, if I had seen Caleb with a bruised face. I would have panicked. I would have rushed to his side with an ice pack, my heart breaking for him, doing everything in my power to take away his pain.

I probably would have thrown myself in front of Elijah to protect him. But standing there looking at his swollen face, all I felt was cold distance.

What Elijah had done to him didn’t even come close to the damage Caleb had inflicted on my heart for half a decade.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Caleb muttered quietly to the room, his head hanging low. “For ruining the night. It won’t happen again.”

He paused, his voice trembling slightly as he turned toward my side of the table.

Tori… I’m so-

“I don’t think this is the right time or place for that, Ashfield,” Coach Miller cut in smoothly. “If you have personal things to sort out, do it in private.”

Caleb swallowed hard, nodding mutely as he slumped back into his chair.

2/4

11:33 Tue, Aug 25

Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains

79

55 vouchers

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