Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 45

I Didn’t Have a Choice

Victoria’s POV

Elijah stepped around to the passenger side, his boots crunching over the broken shards, and yanked the door open.

He reached in, his large hands steady as they wrapped around my forearms.

The moment his fingers touched my skin, the last of my restraint broke.

I scrambled out of the footwell and threw myself entirely into his chest, my fingers locking into the fabric of his shirt as I began sobbing hard against his collarbone.

Elijah wrapped his arms securely around my waist, pulling me so tightly against him that I could feel the rapid, heavy thud of his heartbeat against my ribs.

One of his hands moved to the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair, holding me close.

“Hey, I’m here,” he murmured, his deep voice vibrating gently against my cheek.” Nothing happened. Everything is fine, Lowe. I’ve got you.”

“Elijah,” I sobbed harder, the word hitching in my throat as the terrifying image of those hands reaching through the glass played on a loop in my mind.

The reality of what would have happened if he hadn’t answered, if he hadn’t driven like a madman to get to this lot, completely overwhelmed me.

I cried into his chest, releasing all the terror, the exhaustion, and the loneliness of the last two days.

He didn’t push me away or seem uncomfortable. He just wrapped his arms around me and stayed there while I fell apart.

When the hitching in my chest finally slowed and I was close to calm, Elijah gently pulled back a few inches.

He kept his hands resting on my cheek, his thumbs reaching up to carefully brush the remaining tears off my damp cheeks.

“What are you doing out here, Victoria?” he asked. His voice had softened, and somehow that made my throat tighten even more.

“You know it’s not safe. Why the hell are you out so late at night?”

I looked away from his intense gaze, my lips trembling as a fresh, silent tear rolled down my cheek.

I couldn’t look him in the eye. The shame of my situation felt entirely too heavy.

“I’m sorry,” I choked out, my voice barely a whisper.

1/3

Elijah let out a loud, heavy exhale, the tension leaving his shoulders as he pulled me back into a brief, protective embrace.

“Come on,” he muttered against my hair. “Let’s grab your bag. I’ll take you back to your apartment.”

“I can’t go,” I said quickly, pulling back slightly and shaking my head.

His brows furrowed in immediate confusion, his gaze locking tightly with mine as his expression began to harden again.

“Why’s that? It’s past midnight, Victoria. You’re not staying out here.”

I bit my inside lip, staring down at his boots. I knew I had reached the absolute end of the road.

There were no more believable lies left to tell, and I was too tired to invent them

anyway.

“Our floor is under renovation,” I whispered, the admission tasting like ash in my mouth. “The landlady shut down the entire eastern block for emergency pipe repairs. We had to evacuate.”

Elijah’s gaze stayed locked on mine, his eyes narrowing. “Why-”

He didn’t finish the question. His words cut off as his eyes shifted past my shoulder to the broken glass of my car, his expression hardening as he scanned the interior.

He took in everything: the blanket bunched up on the backseat, the empty water bottles, the small bag of clothes tucked into the floorboard.

“How long?” he demanded, his voice dropping an octave as the realization hit him.” How long have you been living out of this car, Victoria?”

I swallowed hard, shifting my weight from foot to foot. “It’s not important…”

“Fuck yeah, it’s important!” he snapped, the sudden volume making me flinch slightly.

He took a step closer, his hands gesturing toward the shattered glass on the pavement.

“Lowe, do you have any idea how dangerous it is out here? Look at what just happened! Why the fuck didn’t you call me? Or even book a hotel or something?”

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, a sudden spike of annoyance flaring up ‘through my exhaustion.

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