Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 55

Something New Between Us

Elijah’s POV

We talked for a little while longer, the conversation winding down into fragmented whispers until the early morning light began to faintly show through the edges of the blinds. It was time to finally let the exhaustion catch up to us.

We both shifted, turning our backs to each other to try and catch whatever remaining sleep we could.

I stared out at the graying walls of my bedroom, pulling the duvet over my shoulder, completely expecting the quiet to take over.

“Elijah?” she called out softly into the space between us.

I hummed in response, keeping my back to her. Even without looking, I could feel her gaze resting on the center of my shoulders.

“Congrats on making captain,” she whispered. “It was well deserved.”

The words made me freeze. A strange, conflicting sensation tore through me–hearing her congratulate me made something genuinely happy flare up in my chest, but it also made me pause for a long moment.

I slowly rolled back over onto my side, propping my head up on my hand to look down at her.

A small, testing smile played on my face.

“You’re happy I got it? A part of you isn’t angry or sad that it wasn’t Caleb?”

Victoria chuckled breathlessly, the sound soft against the pillows. She bit her bottom lip, her fingers casually throwing a stray lock of hair back over her shoulder.

The action was subtle, but it didn’t escape my notice. It was adorable, and it was entirely too sexy.

My jaw tightened as I forced myself not to dwell on it–if I kept looking at her like that, I was going to cross a boundary I was absolutely not supposed to cross yet.

She smiled up at me, a sudden spark of playfulness returning to her eyes.

“Well… I have to be happy for my boyfriend, right?”

She finished the sentence with a wink.

A loud laugh escaped my throat. I rolled my eyes and looked away, trying to hide the fact that the comment actually had me blushing like a kid, a completely ridiculous, giddy feeling expanding behind my ribs as she laughed quietly beside me.

Victoria’s POV

Something New Between th

i sat at the small kitchen dining table, buried behind a fortress of engineering notes and reference books, while the rest of the apartment was filled with the boisterous sounds of the sports network playing on the television.

The guys were all gathered around the living room area, completely glued to the

screen.

Today was the official media broadcast following the team announcement, featuring interviews with the Crowswell varsity lineup about the upcoming regional series and Elijah’s appointment as team captain.

When the screen cut to the post–practice footage and Elijah’s name appeared across the bottom banner, my pen paused mid–calculation.

leaned back slightly, my eyes drifting away from my soil mechanics diagram to watch him speak.

On screen, he looked completely in his element.

He answered the reporter’s questions with his signature cool, unbothered confidence, effortlessly breaking down the team’s defensive strategies without giving away a single real secret to the opposing scouts.

Watching him, a small, involuntary smile curled at the corners of my lips.

Memories of our conversation from the previous night immediately flashed behind my eyes. It had been one of the most refreshing, genuinely comforting moments I’d experienced in a very long time.

Before last night, Elijah had always seemed like an absolute vault; an unreadable, heavily guarded enigma surrounded by campus rumors and an intentionally arrogant personality.

But it felt like that vault was finally cracking.

He was entirely different from the boy the rest of the university thought they knew. He had a profound, hidden depth.

Beneath that cocky, bad–boy persona he wore, there was someone incredibly gentle- almost like an angel.

Though, I mentally reminded myself, I would absolutely rather die than ever admit that to his face.

I was snapped out of my private thoughts when the on–screen interview concluded, and the television transitioned back to a live commentary studio.

I blinked, turning my head slightly toward the couch, only to find that Elijah was already watching me. He wasn’t looking at the TV at all.

He was leaning back against the cushions, his dark eyes locked onto mine, a completely imperceptible, private smile playing at the edge of his lips.

2/4

nething New Between Us

Deep rush of heat flooded my cheeks, and I looked down at my notepad, trying to suppress the blush.

This feeling was entirely new, a completely different sensation from anything I had ever experienced during my years of pining after Caleb.

Maybe he was right, I thought quietly, my fingers tracing the edge of my paper. Maybe I really do need to step out of Caleb’s orbit and start building a life completely outside

of him.

“And joining us now from the field is Crowswell’s star infielder,” the television anchor’s voice boomed, cutting through my thoughts as the broadcast panned over to a pre- recorded clip of Miles standing by the dugouts.

The interviewer smiled brightly at the camera.

“Miles Carter, how does it feel to have the captaincy shift over to the hot corner this close to the regionals?”

My head snapped up so fast my neck almost popped.

I blinked in utter confusion, my gaze darting from the television screen straight to Miles, who was currently lounging on Elijah’s sectional with a bag of chips.

“Wait. Are you two actually brothers? The announcer just called you Miles Carter.” I blurted out, the question escaping my mouth before I could think to filter it.

The second the words left my lips, the entire living room went completely dead silent. Every single head snapped in my direction.

Caught in the sudden glare of four varsity athletes, I suddenly felt shy, and I instantly regretted opening my mouth.

Miles let out a loud chuckle, a massive, wicked smirk spreading across his face as he shook his head.

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