Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 50

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Playing Hover

Playing House

Victoria’s POV

“Yo! When did Carter get so good at cooking, man?”

Nate’s voice boomed through the apartment, rattling the quiet morning. Sweat instantly broke out on my forehead, my hand freezing over the spatula.

What the hell were his friends doing here so early in the morning?

I quickly lowered the stove heat under the bacon, wiping my hands on a dish towel. Taking a deep breath, I strode out of the kitchen to see what was happening. Hopefully, they didn’t plan to host a post–game afterparty at eight in the morning.

When I reached the living room, Nate, Leo, and Miles were already completely plopped down on the leather couch, the television turned on to a sports recap channel.

They looked like they hadn’t even slept, still wearing their varsity jerseys.

“Hi, guys,” I called out.

My voice caught their attention immediately. When they looked up, matching, bright smiles broke across their faces.

“I knew it!” Leo yelled, pointing a finger dramatically at the kitchen.

“I knew Elijah Casper Carter couldn’t be the one behind a breakfast this good. Bro can barely make toast without setting off the building alarms.”

My mind completely tuned out every other word he said and locked onto one specific detail.

“His middle name is Casper?”

Miles confirmed it with an amused nod, resting his boots on the edge of the coffee table.

“Born and raised. His mom wanted something classic–at least that what he tells us. He’ll put you in a chokehold if you say it in public.”

I couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughter, covering my mouth as the mental image formed.

I mean, Casper was a perfectly fine name, but it completely clashed with Elijah’s brooding, giant personality. He was the furthest thing from a friendly ghost.

“What’s so funny?” a grumpy, raspy voice growled from the staircase.

We all turned. Elijah was making his way down the steps, looking like he had just been dragged out of a deep sleep.

His dark hair was completely messy, sticking up in every direction, and his eyes were

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narrowed into a permanent scowl against the morning light.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants, his broad chest completely bare and covered in faint shadows, a faint line of hair disappearing past the waistband

He looked rugged, irritated, and entirely too attractive for someone who had just woken up.

“Nothing, Casper,” Miles drewled, leaning back against the sofa cushions.

Elijah stopped on the bottom step, his jaw clenching hard as his gaze pierced into his friend.

“Say it again, Miles, and I’ll throw you off the balcony.”

“Alright, alright, truce,” Miles laughed, raising his hands in surrender. “We just came back to grab the gear we left in your storage closet last night. Didn’t know we were interrupting a whole honeymoon breakfast.”

Honeymoon. The word registered in my head and I couldn’t help it. I looked between Miles and Leo, the blood rushing so hard to my face that my ears felt hot.

“Oh, look at that,” Nate cackled, pointing at my cheeks. “We broke her. She’s turning into a tomato.”

“Lay off her, Nate,” Miles interjected, pulling a throw pillow over his lap.

“But honestly, Victoria, you have to start calling him that in front of the coaches and maybe the entire school. I will literally pay you fifty bucks to call him Casper at the dugout on Friday.”

I bit my cheek, trying to suppress another laugh as I looked over at Elijah for some kind of rescue. But he wasn’t doing a single thing to stop them.

He was just leaning against the staircase railing, his bare chest catching the morning light, watching me with a completely relaxed expression.

There was this lazy, quiet amusement in his eyes, almost as if he genuinely liked seeing me tangled up in his life like this.

“You all are unbelievable,” I muttered, shaking my head as I turned on my heel and bolted back into the kitchen.

Within ten minutes, the bacon was perfectly crisp and the eggs were done. I plated everything nicely and walked out to the edge of the counter.

“Breakfast is ready,” I called out.

A collective, feral shout of victory echoed from the living room. The TV was completely forgotten as a stampede of heavy footsteps trailed hungrily toward the kitchen island.

Leo, Nate and Miles practically pushed each other out of the way to get to the food

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while Elijah trailed right behind them with an annoyed expression.

If anyone saw the Heathen boys on campus, they would think they were just a bunch of stuck–up, arrogant bad boys. Nate definitely carried himself that way in the hallways.

From the casual conversation flowing around the table, it was clear he was the neighborhood player, the community dick, to be entirely honest, constantly bragging about a girl from a different sorority every weekend.

But sitting here at the table, they were entirely different. They were sweet, incredibly welcoming, and treated me like I completely belonged in their space.

They acted like a bunch of overgrown kids, poking fun at each other like brothers from different families. It was wonderful to watch.

“Seriously, Victoria, this is incredible,” Nate mumbled around a mouthful of pancake, pointing his fork at me. “If Carter ever pisses you off, just leave him. We’ll adopt you as the official team chef.”

“Keep your eyes on your own food and your hands off my girl.”

His voice was quiet, almost casual, but there was no mistaking the warning in it.

My fork hovered midair as the words echoed in my ears.

My girl. I looked over at him, my heart doing a strange, violent flip against my ribs. He didn’t even look up from his plate; he just casually took another bite of his eggs as if he hadn’t just completely upended my internal compass.

I bit my lip hard, my fingers tightening around the metal handle of my fork, trying to force my face to stay completely blank. It was just a game. He was just playing his part for the guys.

But the raw, possessive casualness in his voice made a fierce heat rush all the way to the tips of my ears.

“You’re coming to the game this weekend, right?” Leo asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Big series against Oakridge. We need the good luck.”

“Oh, as a matter of fact, she has no right to ever miss our games again,” Miles chimed in, pointing a finger at me with a pretend scowl. “Look at what happened when she showed up last time. We swept the board. You’re our good luck charm, Victoria.”

I sat there, listening to them laugh, but a sudden, heavy feeling sipped into my bones.

My smile faltered slightly as I looked around the table at their bright, genuine

expressions.

I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when the truth finally came out.

How would they react when I broke the news that my relationship with Elijah was a

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complete lie? Would they treat me any less?

Would they stop waving to me in the quad, and would I just go back to being completely invisible to their entire crowd?

We had only interacted a few times, but it genuinely felt like I had known them for a very long time.

I felt safe here. It was a level of comfort I had never managed to achieve with Caleb’s group of friends, who always made me feel like an awkward outsider.

Suddenly, at the mere thought of Caleb, my heart stuttered unevenly.

The weight of my hidden reality became too much to sit with. I cleared my throat, pushing my chair back slightly.

“Um, guys, I should probably go get ready for class. The kitchen is all yours.”

“Thanks for breakfast, Tori!” Nate called out as I walked away.

I retreated up the stairs into Elijah’s bedroom, closing the heavy wooden door behind me to shut out the laughter from below. The room still smelled faintly of him, clean. and grounding.

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