Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 196

15:20 Tue, Sep 8 M.

Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains

Can I Get a Hug?

Elah’s POV

Im going to fucking kill him.”

E

The words tore past my teeth before I could stop them. I lunged off the edge of the mattress, my feet hitting the floorboards with a loud thud.

“Elijah, no!”

Victoria screamed my name and threw herself off the bed.

I had already reached the door and turned the knob, but before I could push it open, she jumped onto my back, wrapping, her arms tightly around my neck and hooking her legs around my waist.

“Elijah, please,” she begged, her breathing ragged and warm against my skin.

I froze in place, my hands clenching into fists at my sides, my chest heaving as I tried to process the absurdity of everything she’d just told me.

A burner account. Fake messages. Intentionally impersonating me to mess with April, just to make Victoria think I was going behind her back with Trinity.

I had known Caleb was acting off back then–I’d felt the tension between us, caught the strange, vile looks he kept giving

1. me.

But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine he was capable of calculated sabotage.

Victoria’s fingers dug into the fabric of my shirt over my chest, her forehead pressed hard against my shoulder blade

“Calm down. Please, Elijah, just let it go.”

“Let me down first,” I grunted, my body stiff as a board.

“No,” she said stubbornly, her voice muffled against my back. “I don’t trust you. The second I get off, you’re going to walk out that door and beat him senseless.”

“He deserves it. Tori,” I snapped, glaring at the dark wood of the bedroom door.

“Yes, I know he does!” she shot back softly “I know he deserves it. But the damage is already done, Elyah. Punching him. breaking his jaw, fighting him in front of everyone… none of that is going to change what happened. It won’t fix anything”

I stood there locked in place, my throat tight as the fury raged through me.

She was right, but that didn’t make the urge to drag him out into the yard any weaker-

My mind raced through those dark nights where I almost lost her, the texts I ignored, the nights I let her plead for forgiveness because I was hurt that she doubted me.

All of it had been built on a lie he carefully engineered, just because a guy she called her best friend couldn’t stand watching her move on.

“Lock the door,” she instructed, her chin resting on my shoulder. “Please

I took a deep, deliberate breath, letting the air cool the heat burning in my chest.

Slowly, carrying her weight on my back, I stepped closer to the door, reached out, and turned the deadbolt until it clicked

15:20 Tue, Sep 8 @ M.

The Nor Fall For The Baseball Captains

into place

There, I muttered. “It’s locked.”

She was still clinging to my back like a backpack, her breathing slowly steadying against my skin.

“Walk back to the bed.”

“Victoria-”

“Walk back to the bed, Elijah.”

I gave in, taking slow, heavy steps back toward the mattress.

“Let me go.” I asked, my tone softening just a fraction. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

She hesitated for a beat before slowly unwrapping her legs from around my middle, sliding her arms off my shoulders until her feet touched the floorboards.

I turned around to face her.

Seeing her under the faint overhead light made my chest tighten with a totally different kind of pain.

Her eyes were red, her eyelids swollen, and her cheeks flushed pink from crying for the last hour. She looked drained

I reached out, cupping her cheek with my palm, my thumb softly brushing over her warm skin.

“Look at you,” I murmured, staring into her eyes. “See at what he did to you tonight. You really expect me to just let that go

Victoria forced a faint, fragile smile, leaning her face slightly into my hand. She gave a small nod.

“Yeah I do.”

“Tori.”

“I just want to forgive him and move on.” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.

“For fifteen years, Caleb has taken up space in my life, hurting me over and over while I kept making excuses for him Lused to think I could just accept that we weren’t meant to be romantic and keep him as a best friend. But I can’t even do that now. I just want to let him go. Completely”

I stared at her, feeling a profound, quiet respect for the strength it took for her to say those words

The urge to smash Caleb’s face in was still there, but looking at the girl standing in front of me, I realized she didn’t need a fight tonight. She needed peace.

‘Come here,” I whispered softly

I reached out, took her wrist, and pulled her gently against my chest

She wrapped her arms around my torso, and I folded mine over her back, holding her as tightly as I could while she rested her forehead against my collarbone.

Nova’s POV

The crisp might air settled heavily over the cabin patio long after the rest of the retreat had gone quiet

I sat on the wooden bench, pulling my sweater sleeves over my knuckles, watching Caleb stare blankly into his lap

15.20 Tue, Sep 8 M.

Fall For The Baseball Captains

Tm sorry. Caleb broke the long silence between us “I know it’s late but I just wanted to have a heart–to–heart Without all The noise

In answer right away Looking at him now, it was hard to reconcile the broken guy sitting across from me with the distant, untouchable guy who used to sit at the front of my tutoring sessions.

Caleb hadn’t ruined my life the way he’d disrupted Victoria’s, but he had left his own subtle mark on me

When I started getting close to him. I’d made no secret of my crush

He knew how I felt–I was sure of that–and instead of being clear, he had led me on, dropping subtle hints that made me believe I actually had a shot.

That if I gave him time, if I just persisted, he’d eventually look at me the same way.

Then out of nowhere. Lexi had come back into the picture, and I was abruptly discarded without a second thought

“Why did you take her back?” I asked gently, keeping my tone curious rather than accusatory

“After everything… why Lexi? I mean, it’s okay if you didn’t like Victoria or me, but going back to a girl who hurt you like that?”

Caleb let out a long breath, rubbing his palms over his knees as he stared at the dark wood of the floorboards.

‘Deep down. I never really let go of her,” he admitted, his voice raspy. “I cared about her, Nova. I was angry and hurt when she left, but… she had a reason. Once she told me what actually happened, I couldn’t hold it against her anymore

I tilted my head, studying his face with genuine curiosity, wondering what could possibly justify the way she had walked out on him

Noticing my look, a faint, sad smile touched Caleb’s lips.

“It’s not my place to tell you her story, but… it had to do with her family. Something heavy happened on her end.”

I understood immediately and nodded slowly

The patio went quiet, and for the first time, the old ache in my chest was gone. There was nothing left but clarity

I reached over and placed my hand gently on his arm

I forgive you. Caleb

He snapped his head up, his eyes widening in pure shock

“What?”

I offered him a small, genuine smile I said, I forgive you”

“Nova, II treated you like an option, he stammered, his voice thick with disbeliet Tused you

“I should have known better back then, too.” I replied calmly. “And I don’t want to carry resentment around with me anymore I’ve accepted that we were never going to work out anyway We come from two completely different worlds. Caleb. We were never compatible”

Caleb stared at me, a thick mix of regret and genuine gratitude shining in his bloodshot eyes.

“Thank you, Nova Seriously. thank you You really have no idea what your forgiveness means to me”

He swallowed hard, his eyes turning glossy

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