Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 10

Not a Kidnap

Not a Kidnap

Victoria’s POV

15 banu

The thing about Elijah Carter was that before all of this, he existed the same way a billboard does–technically in your line of vision, easy enough to tune out if you weren’t interested.

I knew who he was. Everyone did. Star player, straight–A criminology major, the kind of face that made people stop mid-

sentence.

But knowing someone exists and actually seeing them are two different things, and for most of this year, Elijah Carter was just part of the scenery.

Now I was actively trying to avoid him, and somehow he was everywhere. It was like the universe had decided to make him unavoidable.

I had just finished CE 490 lectures. It’s a course I struggle to find any spark for.

Mr Wilson had spent the entire leqture talking in that slow, dragging tone of his, slipping in jokes that made half the room groan. I didn’t even have the energy to pretend I enjoyed it.

I pulled my hood up, adjusted my bag strap, and dropped my gaze to the floor.

He was somewhere ahead in the corridor, I could tell by the particular shift in foot traffic, the way girls slowed without meaning to.

If I was lucky, all that attention would keep his eyes off me.

I was not lucky.

The group ahead of me moved at the pace of people who had nowhere to be and didn’t care who was behind them. gritted my teeth. Hissed once through my nose. Considered, briefly, what it would take to physically move them. Finally, a gap opened and I slipped through, turned the corner, and exhaled.

Empty corridor. I nearly laughed from the relief of it.

Then a hand closed around my arm. Before I could even yelp, I was hauled sideways. The world spun for a second until I was shoved into the darkness of a cramped equipment closet,

The door clicked shut, sealing us in.

squeezed my eyes shut, my mind spiraling into the worst possible scenarios.

My mouth started moving before my brain could organize anything useful.

‘Please just let me go. I’m not exactly the kind of girl you should target. I mean, nobody is the girl for this. It’s unethical, it’s nhumane, it’s… it’s a violation of basic rights! So please just let me go.”

kept rambling, waiting for something terrible to happen, but the grip on my arms suddenly vanished.

slowly peeled one eye open.

Elijah stood there, looming over me. He was staring at me as if I had suddenly sprouted a second head and started speaking in a non–existent language.

‘You?” I gasped.

The terror vanished, replaced instantly by a scorching wave of embarrassment, followed quickly by hot, bubbling

annoyance.

You know I could charge you with kidnapping? Or assault? Why would you do that?”

He didn’t answer. He just kept staring until, suddenly, he cracked. A deep, genuine laugh tumbled out of him.

If I’d ever wondered what real shock felt like, this was it. I just stood there, staring at him like I’d forgotten how to blink.

Never–not once–had I imagined Elijah laughing like that. It wasn’t the smug half–smile he usually wore or the cold arrogance in his eyes. This was different.

And for a second… I forgot why I was even annoyed.

It sounded good. Too good.

He leaned back against a stack of gym mats, cl

Successfully unlocked!

I stood there and searched desperately for what was funny, came up completely empty, and settled for a scowl while he got it out of his system.

Not ⚫ Kidnap

“Glad trauma is your midday entertainment,” I snapped.

15 bonu

He stopped laughing, though a dark, amused smirk remalnied. He stepped into my space, his presence filling the tiny closet until the air felt thin.

I backed up until the brick wall bit into my shoulder blades.

He was too close. Way too close!

He reached out, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. His thumb grazed my bottom lip, a slow, sensual movement that made my breath hitch.

“You really are an innocent little thing, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t find my words. I was pinned by his eyes–onyx depths that offered no clues, no hints of what he was actually thinking.

“Do you genuinely think that someone with bad intentions would drag you into a gym closet? In the middle of the day?” He raised a brow.

“Those people are monsters, Victoria. Smart. They don’t do it in corridors between classes”

I looked at him, really looked at him. Elijah was beautiful in a way that felt unfair. But he was also socky, overbearing, and a total menace to my peace of mind.

I tried to push against his chest, but he didn’t budge. It was like trying to move a marble statue.

Note to self: I seriously needed to start lifting weights if this guy was going to keep cornering me.

‘I don’t need a lecture on criminals from you, Carter,” I said, finding my voice, “and how exactly do you know so much about the psychology of these monsters, Carter?”

He rolled his eyes, his expression shifting to one of bored arrogance.

Victoria, I read. I watch documentaries. I pay attention to the news, And, in case you forgot, I’m a criminology major.”

He leaned in closer. “And ‘baby, I’m top of my class.”

He said that last part with a thread of arrogance in his voice that recognized by now as just the way he was built. I filed it

away.

also, very deliberately did not acknowledge the baby.

told myself it was nothing, that boys like Elijah Carter threw words like that around the same way other people said hey, eflexive and meaningless, not worth a second of my attention.

was almost convinced. Almost, because something had shifted when it left his mouth. Small and uninvited, starting somewhere in my chest and spreading before I could stop it.

couldn’t explain it. I had no reference for it, no past feeling to compare it to.

Because in all the years I’d spent loving Caleb–years of longing and waking and learning to live around the ache of it, in all hat time, not once had a single word from him done anything like that to me.

But Elijah says one thing, and my body reacts like it understands something I don’t.

didn’t like that, didn’t want it. So I buried it. Straightened my face. And pretended nothing had happened.

‘Yeah, whatever. So why did you kidnap me?”

He tilted his head.

‘I wouldn’t call it a kidnapping. I’d call it a private consultation. It’s quite exhilarating, don’t you think? Tucking you away in here while students walk right past the door, having no idea what we’re doing…”

He pressed his body flush against mine. There wasn’t an inch of air left between us.

He grabbed my wrists, pinning them to the wall above my head.

“Elijah,” I whispered. To my horror, it came out sounding less like a protest and more like a moan.

My brain was yelling that this was wrong but my body said otherwise.

He leaned down, the tip of his nose tracing the line of my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a shaky breath.

Say Yes or I’ll Make You

Say Yes or I’ll Make You

Victoria’s POV

“You’re really testing my patience, Victoria, he murmured near my ear. “Ignoring me all week… did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

There was a hint of amusement in his voice, like he’d been watching me try to hide from him and found the whole effort adorable.

“You shouldn’t try that again.” His gaze dropped to my lips, lingering there long enough to make me aware of it.

I swallowed, my back pressing so hard into the wall I thought I might merge with the brick.

“I wasn’t… I just had a lot of work,” I stammered, the excuse sounding pathetic even to my own ears.

I tried to look anywhere but at him, but his eyes were like magnets.

“Besides, I figured you’d have better things to do than-”

“Than what?” he interrupted, his voice dropping to a rasp that sent a jolt straight to my toes.

He leaned an inch closer, until the tip of his nose brushed against mine.

“Than check on my investment?”

“I’m not an investment, Elijah. I’m a person who was trying to go to class and-”

My voice died as he tilted his head, his eyes darkening. For a second, I thought he was going to close the gap.

I thought he was going to prove exactly why I shouldn’t have ignored him.

My heart was thudding so hard I was sure he could feel it through my chest.

Then, just as the tension reached a snapping point, he let out a short, sharp breath and pulled back just enough to let me breathe.

The shift in him was subtle, but I noticed it.

Whatever had been there a moment ago seemed to settle back under control, and he slipped into that usual, overconfident version of himself again, like the last few seconds never existed.

The papers, Victoria,” he added, quieter this time, but firmer. Are they signed? Or do I need to find a more… persuasive way o get your attention?”

opened my mouth, but the answer was buried under the sudden, overwhelming scent of his cologne and the heat adiating from his chest.

tried to remember the words for yes or no, but they had dissolved.

Each time his chest brushed against mine, my mind went white, leaving me staring at the pulse point in his own jaw while he world outside the closet ceased to exist.

Then, his teeth grazed the sensitive skin of my neck. I let out a soft gasp as he pulled back just enough to look me in the eye.

୮

Our lips were so close I could feel the heat of his breath.

‘I’ve given you enough time, Victoria,” he muttered, his thumb tracing my lower lip again. “I need the signed papers by this evening when you’re coming with me to the bonfire.”

My eyes flew open. “The bonfire? I… I can’t go to that. Everyone will be there. And that’s not my kind of….”

He chuckled, a low, dark sound.

You really don’t have a choice.”

I do have a choice-”

He leaned in again slightly, his lips brushing mine in the ghost of a kiss, and I lost my sentence halfway through.

Before anything else could happen, the door suddenly opened.

“Woah.. the fuck!”

A couple of guys from the football team stood th jabs at Elijah.

res. They started hooting and cooing, throwing

Successfully unlocked!

He didn’t look flustered; he just shot them a look so lethal they practically tripped over themselves to shut the door and keep moving.

Say Yes or I’ll Make You

15 bonus

The heat in my face was unbearable. By dinner, the entire athletic department would know Victoria the Engineering Nerd vas getting cozy in the Locker room with Elijah Carter.

Where were we?” Elijah turned back to me, his voice dropping an octave, his eyes hooded and intense.

Elijah, I can’t go-”

I’m picking you up at eight, he interrupted, his tone final. “I’ll have an outfit sent to your place. Don’t make me come up and get you.”

He pulled away and walked toward the door.

As his hand hit the handle, he stopped. He stood perfectly still for a moment before turning back.

noticed his jaw was set tight, his eyes narrowing into sharp, dangerous slits.

Victoria,” he called out softly, though there was an undercurrent to his voice that changed the entire atmosphere of the