Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 18

His World, His Rules

Victoria’s POV

I tossed my hair into a messy bun, clipped it back, and finally stepped out of the bathroom.

30 bonus

The steam had cleared, but could still feel the phantom heat of his touch everywhere his fingers had grazed my skin

I stopped dead in my tracks when I entered my room. Elijah was lounging on my bed, propped up against the headboard with an air of casual ownership that usually would have set my teeth on edge.

But my irritation was instantly derailed by the sheer volume of high–end shopping bags cluttering the floor around my feet. “Elijah?” I mumbled. My steps slowed as I took in the scene, my eyebrows practically disappearing into my hairline.

He looked up from his phone, his dark eyes meeting mine with a cool, unbothered expression.

“What are all these?” I asked, gesturing vaguely at the mountain of branded paper and plastic.

He tilted his head, his gaze scanning my face for a long beat before he let out an audible puff of air.

“Sometimes, you really make me question if you’re actually as smart as everyone says. An engineering student who can’t identify a shopping bag?”

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest.

“You’d have to keep wondering for a long time, then. Because I am, and I’m quite good at it. You’ll just have to deal with that.” “I don’t know,” he countered, his lips twitching. “Most geniuses I know can usually identify a shopping bag without an investigation. Is it the colors that are confusing you, or the handles?”

“Okay, okay… whatever,” I muttered, throwing my hands in the air as he smirked at me. “Back to my question. What is in all these?”

Elijah sighed, sounding genuinely exhausted by the interrogation. “Victoria, just look for yourself.”

‘Always so difficult,” I muttered to the floorboards, my voice barely a thread of sound.

I leaned over, hooking my finger through the heavy cord handle of the closest bag, the expensive paper crinkling loudly in the quiet room as I yanked it toward me.

Opening it, I found a plethora of luxury bath soaps, French–milled bars, and hair products that cost more than my weekly groceries.

I dropped it as if it were hot and grabbed another.

Makeup. Not the drugstore brands I usually rationed, but professional–grade palettes and lipsticks in heavy, gold–trimmed

cases.

I moved to the next: expensive body lotions, high–end skincare serums, and three different bottles of perfume that smelled like a spring garden in the middle of a city.

I held one of the glass bottles, staring at the label, then looked back at him. He was just watching me, his jaw resting in his palm.

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‘Wh… why?” I stammered. “Elijah, these are ridiculous. They’re way too expensive.”

When he had slipped that first bottle of body wash through the bathroom door earlier, I’d noticed it wasn’t my brand. He’d told me mine wasn’t available, but looking at this haul, I realized he hadn’t even looked for my ten–dollar soap. He’d lied through his teeth.

I slapped my palm against my forehead, the panic rising in my throat.

I started pacing the small space between the bags, my words tripping over each other as I grew hyper–fixated on the cost.

“Do you have any idea how much this costs? I don’t want to get into this lifestyle, Elijah. I was perfectly fine with my fifty- dollar toiletries that lasted me an entire month. This… this looks like a thousand dollars‘ worth of stuff! Maybe more!”

I stopped and glared at him.

“When our contract is over, how am I supposed to keep this up? You’re giving me a taste of something I can’t afford to maintain. I clearly told you: only one bottle of wash. Just one!”

I was rambling, my voice rising an octave with every sentence Rv the time I stopped to take a breath, I was practically heaving, my face flushed with a mix of embarras Successfully unlocked!

Elijah stood up slowly, his height suddenly making the room teen much smaller.

He waited a beat, then asked calmly, “Are you finished?”

His World His Rules

My mouth fell open. I grunted in frustration and raked my fingers through my hair, messing up the bun I’d just made.

I’m serious, Elijah. All these extras… they aren’t part of our agreement. They’re a liability.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned and started walking toward the kitchen.

I followed him like a persistent housefly, still listing all the reasons why this was a terrible idea.

He reached the counter, then suddenly spun around and grabbed my arms, holding me firmly but gently in place.

“Victoria,” he called out, his voice dropping into that deep, authoritative tone that always managed to silence me.

He looked down at me, his eyes searching mine with a terrifying amount of focus.

For a second, the frustration died out, replaced by a strange, humming tension that made it hard to look away.

I could see the flecks of amber in his dark pupils, the slight tension in his brow. It felt like he was trying to say something

he hadn’t written into the contract.

“Stop overthinking the price tag. In my world, you don’t apologize for having the best And as long as you’re with me, you’re in my world. It’s not about the contract. It’s about the fact that if I’m going to provide something, I’m not going to provide garbage. Now, sit.”

He gestured toward the kitchen island. The intensity of his gaze made my knees go a little weak, so I obeyed, climbing onto the stool without another word.

I watched him silently as he began to plate the food–waffles, golden and smelling of vanilla.

My mind was a mess. I was trying to reconcile the jerk who had just scolded me with the man who had apparently spent a fortune to make sure my hair smelled like expensive roses.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, the only sound being the clink of forks against porcelain. But the quiet was suffocating

1. me.

There was a question burning in the back of my throat, fueled by the raw vulnerability of the last twenty–four hours.

“How do you do it?” I asked suddenly.

He paused, a piece of waffle halfway to his mouth, and looked up, My eyes were already brimming with tears.

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