Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 32

Why Didn’t It Feel Right?

Victoria’s POV

‘You’re gorgeous.‘

The words had been looping in my head on a continuous cycle for the last two days.

I wasn’t supposed to be dwelling on it–especially considering the state he was in–but my brain had a stubborn way of defying my own orders at times.

“You’ve been twirling and spinning that pencil for the past hour, Victoria, all while

wearing this bizarre, dreamy smile. Did you actually catch a single word of the

presentation?”

The voice cracked through the silence of the lecture hall, snapping the thread of my

memory.

My head jerked up, my eyes wide as I found myself staring at Nova Chamberlain. She was sitting sideways in her desk chair, her chin resting in her hand.

Nova was a beautiful, full–figured blonde with a warm smile that could instantly put anyone at ease.

What I admired most about her was the effortless confidence she carried herself with; she never tried to shrink to fit into a room.

Right now, she was looking over at me with a knowing grin, and that was the exact moment the reality set in.

The group project meeting was entirely over.

The other three members had already packed up and left, and throughout the entire hour, I had been completely checked out, lost in a haze of dark eyes and raspy, alcohol- scented whispers.

A hot hurricane of embarrassment flooded my face, and I immediately dropped the pencil.

“Oh… I didn’t realize everyone left,” I stammered, my fingers shaking as I began shoving my textbooks and highlighters into my backpack.

“I’m so sorry, Nova, I didn’t mean to just zone out on you guys.”

Nova let out a light, musical chuckle, gathering her own heavy textbook against her chest as she stood up.

“Don’t sweat it, Victoria. We already divided up the lab slides, and I assigned you the easiest portion since you looked like you were experiencing a spiritual awakening over that wooden pencil. Besides, you’ve been carrying the weight of our lab reports all semester, you’re allowed a little daydreaming. Come on, let’s get out of here before the

Why Didn’t it Feel Right?

janitor locks us in.”

A grateful smile broke through my embarrassment.

I zipped my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder as I hurried to catch up with her strides.

As we walked out of the classroom and navigated the sprawling, sunlit corridors of the engineering block, we fell into an easy, comfortable conversation.

Nova was incredibly funny, dropping quick, lighthearted jokes about how our grueling lab reports always felt like they were written in ancient hieroglyphics, which had me laughing out loud.

We quickly realized we shared a mutual hatred for the early morning calculus seminars and a strange obsession with the same niche true–crime podcasts.

It was refreshing. I had spent so long tucked away in my own isolated bubble that I’d forgotten how nice it was to just click with another girl.

We were just crossing the threshold of the heavy glass exit doors, still trading jokes, when my feet came to a sudden, absolute halt on the concrete steps.

Walking right toward the entrance, his broad chest cutting through the stream of passing students, was Caleb.

He was completely healed now, the crutches gone.

Our eyes locked across the short distance, and for a split second, that familiar, old rush tried to stir in my chest, but to my absolute surprise, it wasn’t nearly as intense as it used to be.

The dizzying pull that usually left me breathless felt muted.

“Caleb,” I breathed, the name slipping past my lips before I could stop it.

“Victoria,” he countered softly, stopping a few feet away, his green eyes scanning my face.

Nova’s gaze darted between the two of us, her intuition instantly picking up on the sudden, thick tension cooling the air.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, a polite but strained smile appearing on her face as she took a step back toward the main path.

“Uh, hey, Victoria, I actually just remembered I need to run to the administrative office before it closes. I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

“Wait, Nova, don’t go yet,” I said, a sudden wave of panic hitting me at the thought of being left alone with him. “We didn’t even get each other’s contact information.”

Nova let out a hearty laugh, waving her hand dismissively as she began to back away.

“Girl, we’ve been in the same major and the same project groups for literally four years

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Why Didn’t it Feel Right?

now. I have your student email, and I can easily grab your number from the class group chat. I’ll text you tonight!”

She paused, giving a polite, quick wave toward Caleb. “Bye, Caleb.”

With that, she disappeared into the crowd of moving students, leaving a heavy, suffocating silence in her wake.

“Making new friends, I see,” Caleb pointed out, stepping forward. His tone was light, but there was an underlying layer of caution to it.

I looked anywhere but at him, my eyes focusing on the tip of my sneaker as I twisted my foot against the pavement.

My fingers tightened on the strap of my backpack.

Caleb let out a slow, heavy sigh. He stepped forward, closing the distance between us until his shadow fell completely over me.

“Tori, can we go out tonight? Dinner, just you and me. No distractions. Please.”

I raised my eyes, staring at him with a mixture of shock and deep skepticism. “Caleb…”

Before I could voice the rejection forming in my throat, he encroached further into my personal space, his free hand reaching out to wrap around my fingers.

His touch was warm, familiar, and exactly what I had spent years praying for.

“I miss my best friend,” he murmured, his green eyes searching my face with a raw sincerity I hadn’t seen in him for a very long time.

“I know I’ve been a complete jerk over the last few weeks. I’ve been selfish, and I completely screwed up. Just give me one night to fix this? Let me mend what I broke.”

I wanted to be strong. I wanted to pull my hand back, to remember the coldness in his living room and the way he had turned his back on me.

But looking up into his green eyes, hearing the raw regret in his voice, the old walls I had built against him began to crumble.

I swallowed hard, my heart hammering against my ribs in a fast, unsteady beat as I looked at our joined hands. I couldn’t deny the terrifying power he still held over me.

ΑΑΑΑΑ

A few hours later, I sat frozen in front of the small vanity mirror in my bedroom.

I had chosen a simple, cream–colored ribbed dress that hit just above my knees, and my brown hair was pulled back into a sleek, high ponytail.

I was staring at my reflection, completely paralyzed by my own thoughts.

This invite was supposed to thrill me. It was supposed to be the moment I had

Why Didn’t It Feel Right?

dreamed about for years: Caleb clearing his schedule entirely for me, leaving his popular friends behind just to sit across from me at a table.

But instead of excitement, a dull, nagging knot of anxiety was twisting in my stomach.

I couldn’t understand why the victory felt so empty, useless.

My eyes flicked to my phone resting on the wood beside my makeup brushes.

A sudden, uncomfortable realization hit me.

Did I have to tell Elijah?

When we had signed that ridiculous contract, the terms had been very clear: neither of us was supposed to be seen going out with anyone else to keep the pretense believable.

But did that rule apply to Caleb? He was my lifelong best friend, not a random date.

And yet, a heavy, suffocating layer of guilt was pressing down on me, making me feel like I was doing something deceptive. It was ridiculous.

Elijah and I weren’t a real couple; it was a business arrangement. So why did my fingers tremble at the thought of him finding out?

I let out a loud, frustrated sigh, dropping my forehead against my palms.

“What is up with you? You’ve been staring at that mirror for twenty minutes like you’re trying to perform telekinesis on your own face.”

The sarcastic voice shattered the quiet of the room.

I glanced over to see Eva sitting cross–legged on her bed, a small bottle of vibrant red nail polish held in one hand as she carefully painted her toenails.

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t, mostly because I didn’t even have the words to explain the emotional gridlock in my head.

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