Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 195

She’s Covering for Him

Author’s POV

61

5 vouchers

Victoria’s fingertips dug deep into her thighs, the fabric of her pants offering little protection against the pressure of her own nails.

Her breath hitched in short, uneven rasps as tears streamed down her flushed cheeks, pooling at her chin before dropping onto her shirt.

She stared at the wooden surface of the table, her mind desperately trying to process the confession that had just fallen from Caleb’s mouth.

Across the table, Caleb leaned forward, his hands shaking as he reached out toward her.

“Tori,” he pleaded, his voice cracking around the edges. “I was overwhelmed. I was drowning, and I didn’t know what to do with everything I was feeling. I wasn’t thinking straight-”

“You have no fucking excuse, Caleb!” Victoria spat, her voice cracking as a harsh scoff tore from her throat.

“Do you even realize what you did? You almost ruined my relationship with Elijah!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, guilt crept back in. The memory of those awful weeks came rushing back, turning her stomach.

Days spent away from him, sick with the belief that he’d been using a burner account to ask about his ex behind her back.

She’d questioned everything. She’d questioned him.

The lack of trust had nearly torn them apart, and all the while, the architect of that whole nightmare had been looking at her crumble while acting like her caring, protective best friend.

She remembered the night she and Elijah had finally sat down and cleared the air. He had mentioned offhandedly that Caleb’s behavior during the entire scandal felt suspicious.

But Victoria had dismissed it. She had defended Caleb.

She would have never, in a million years, suspected that her best friend, the boy who had grown up alongside her, was the mastermind behind the account.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Carter!” Nate’s warning echoed across the dark grass as he jogged to keep up with Elijah’s long, aggressive strides.

Elijah ignored him. He closed the distance between the deck and the shoreline in seconds, his eyes locked onto Victoria’s crying form.

The moment he reached the table, he placed his hand over her shoulder, bowing his head toward her.

“Baby, what’s going on?” he asked, his tone dropping into a soft, protective tone.

1/6

12:27 Fri, Sep 4

Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains

His dark eyes shifted over to Caleb, who was visibly shaking in his seat.

5 vouchers

The faint purplish bruise on Caleb’s jaw from their previous fight was still visible, and from the lethal set of Elijah’s shoulders, it looked like he was seconds away from renewing it.

“Tori,” Elijah called softly again.

He slid his index finger under her chin, gently lifting her face so she had to look at him.

The instant their eyes met, Elijah’s expression hardened.

His jaw clenched tight, his eyes narrowing as he took in the heartbreak and distress overflowing on her face.

He turned his head slowly toward Caleb, his gaze burning with rage.

“What did you do to her, Caleb?” Elijah demanded.

Caleb opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“E–Elijah…” Victoria stuttered, fresh tears spilling over her eyelashes.

“Hey,” he murmured softly, his focus returning to her for a split second.

He lifted his thumb, gently wiping the wet tracks from her cheeks.

Without another word, Victoria lunged forward, burying her face straight into his body.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, her frame shuddering as she let out a broken, muffled sob against his torso.

Elijah wrapped his broad arms around her, pulling her close against his body.

He ran his fingers slowly through her hair, resting his chin on top of her head while his mind raced, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened to cause her to break down this severely.

After a few moments, Victoria’s sobs quieted down to small, shaky hitches.

She lifted her head slightly, her voice coming out as a fragile whisper.

“Elijah… please. I just want to end the night. I want to go back to our room and go to sleep.”

Hearing her voice break tore straight through Elijah’s chest.

His jaw worked as he turned his attention back to Caleb.

In one swift movement, Elijah stepped around Victoria, lunged forward, and grabbed Caleb by the front of his hoodie, hauling him half out of his seat.

“What the fuck did you do to her, Caleb?” Elijah seethed, his knuckles turning white around the fabric. “Why do you always make her cry?”

2/6

12:27 Fri, Sep 4

Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains

Caleb flinched violently, his hands instinctively coming up to protect his face.

Victoria looked up through her wet lashes, watching everything unfold in front of her.

4361

5 vouchers

He was shaking, his face pale with undeniable fear. It was the first time in her life she had ever seen Caleb look truly terrified, outside of their childhood days when he used to hide in her bedroom to escape his father’s temper after bringing home a bad report card.

Caleb’s panicked green eyes shifted toward Victoria, catching her gaze for a brief, tense second.

Immediately, she understood what he was asking without him saying a word. ‘Please. Don’t tell Elijah what we just talked about.”‘

However, she knew she couldn’t keep this secret forever.

Elijah had spent weeks fruitlessly searching for the person who had set up that burner account, and she had unfairly accused him during the height of that chaos.

He deserved the truth. But looking at the dangerous fire in Elijah’s eyes right now, she knew that revealing Caleb’s sabotage tonight would end in bloodshed.

She decided to intervene.

She wasn’t saving Caleb out of affection or lingering care. She was doing it because it was the sensible thing to do.

Elijah had already gotten into one major fight on this trip, and she refused to let Caleb’s mistakes pull him into another one and ruin what was left of the trip for everyone else.

Looking past Elijah’s shoulder, she saw the rest of the team already closing in.

She took a step forward, reaching out to wrap her hand around Elijah’s tensed forearm.

“Elijah, please,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Let’s just go to bed.”

Elijah didn’t turn his head immediately. His muscles remained coiled tight, his fierce gaze pinned directly onto Caleb’s trembling features.

Feeling the gentle, desperate tug of Victoria’s hand on his arm, the urge to drive his fist into Caleb’s jaw began to fade.

He knew her too well.

His sweet girl was covering for whatever mess Caleb had created, choosing to swallow her own pain just to prevent a full–blown war from breaking out on the resort deck.

He hated that about her sometimes. Still, he respected her too much to ignore her plea in front of everyone.

Elijah let out a hard, heavy breath through his nose, his chest expanding against his shirt, then he shoved Caleb back.

3/6

12:27 Fri, Sep 4

Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains

គ

61

5 vouchers

Caleb’s knees caught the edge of his wooden chair, sending him stumbling awkwardly into the frame before he managed to catch his balance.

Elijah stepped forward and pointed at him.

“Whatever the fuck you said to make her look like that, Ashfield… you better hope she takes it to her grave,” Elijah growled, his face inches from Caleb’s.

“Because if I find out it is something twisted done to deliberately hurt her, one of us is meeting the Lord… and it sure as hell isn’t going to be me.”

Without waiting for a response, Elijah turned on his heel, wrapping his fingers securely around Victoria’s wrist, pulling her close to his side as he began walking her toward the main cabin.

Before they could take five steps, Coach Miller stepped into their path, his hands resting on his hips, his thick eyebrows drawn together in deep frustration.

“What’s going on out here now, Ashfield? Carter?” Coach Miller’s voice cut through the tense silence. “This was supposed to be a peaceful retreat. We talked about this.”

Elijah kept his lips pressed in a hard, straight line, glaring at the older man without offering a single word of explanation.

Coach Miller’s eyes moved from Elijah to Victoria, whose cheeks were still wet with tears, then to Caleb, who had slumped into his chair with his head buried in his hands.

As a veteran coach who had spent decades managing young athletes, Miller had seen his share of troubled kids, ugly rivalries, and players who let their tempers get the better of them.

But looking at Caleb now, he didn’t see the arrogant star player everyone else knew.

He saw a kid who had made one bad choice after another and was finally being forced to face the mess he’d created.

Miller knew how talented Caleb Ashfield was. He also knew talent couldn’t fix everything.

There was something deeply wrong beneath all that confidence, something Caleb had spent years refusing to deal with.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify