Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 62

What Changed?

Caleb’s POV

I stood near the edge of the outfield grass, my fingers curling so tightly around the leather of my glove that the seams dug into my palm.

Practice was technically over for the first string, but nobody was leaving the diamond yet. Especially not Carter.

I watched him jog over to the fence where Victoria was waiting.

He leaned down, his face inches from hers, and murmured something directly into her ear with that signature, arrogant smirk.

Whatever he said made her entire face turn a deep, brilliant shade of pink.

Victoria rolled her eyes, a beautiful smile breaking across her face as she swatted his

chest.

Carter just laughed, the sound loud and entirely unbothered, enjoying every single second of her attention.

My jaw clamped shut, a toxic heat rising up my neck. I couldn’t look away, even though the sight felt like mud being rubbed into my eyes.

“Hey, Carter!” Coach Miller’s voice boomed across the diamond, strict but carrying a teasing undertone that made a few guys on the bench chuckle.

“Get your ass back over here and help wrap up these drills! Victoria isn’t going to vanish into thin air. You two can have all the time you want after we’re officially done.”

Victoria’s blush deepened, her eyes dropping to her feet, while Carter just shrugged at the coach, completely amused.

Before he turned back to the field, he leaned in and deliberately pressed a slow kiss against her cheek.

It was an absolute eyesore.

A heavy hand suddenly clamped down on my shoulder, breaking my stare.

I snapped my head around to find Noah standing beside me, a completely fake, mocking grin on his face.

“Careful, Ashfield. Your glare can be seen from space right now.” Noah’s voice carried a mocking undertone as he stepped into my line of sight.

“You’re going to send your best friend a completely wrong message. Not to mention Lexi. You know exactly how psycho she gets when your attention wanders.”

I glared at him, my expression dark enough to kill. He just let out a quiet laugh.

What Changed?

“We still have an hour of optional fielding drills, man. Let your best friend love her man in peace.”

He walked off toward the dugout. I wanted to fire the baseball right at the back of his head, but I didn’t feel like spending the night in a county jail cell. The fucker deserved it, though.

Instead of following him, my eyes drifted back to Victoria. She was leaning against the aluminum railing, her dark eyes tracking Carter’s every movement as he trotted back out to the infield to talk to the rest of his circle: Leo, Nate, Miles, and Jace.

As if they could actually sense her stare, the guys looked up, shouting across the dirt and waving their gloves at her.

Victoria smiled broadly, lifting her hand to wave back with a familiarity that made my stomach drop.

Since when the hell was she close to the other Heathen boys?

During the entire time she had been in my life, she had never gotten close to a single one of my friends. She had always stayed on the periphery, quiet, reserved, and completely focused on me.

But seeing her interact with Carter’s circle proved a terrifying reality. Whatever she shared with him wasn’t just a fleeting campus rumor. It was real.

And from the soft, completely relaxed expression on her face, she was actually starting to like him.

I knew that exact look. I had memorized it back in high school. It was the identical, starry–eyed expression she used to give me when she was harboring a massive, secret crush on me from the front row of the bleachers.

A furious, suffocating wave of resentment hit me. I mentally dragged Lexi into my

head, trying to compare the two of them just to validate my choices.

Lexi was stunning, high–maintenance, and a trophy that solidified my status on this

campus.

Victoria was a quiet engineering scholarship student, my best friend. Lexi was supposed to be the prize. But looking at Victoria right now, completely out of my reach, a swarm of bitter questions started eating away at my confidence.

Practice resumed, and the atmosphere on the field turned incredibly hostile.

Every single time Carter stepped up to the plate, I took it as a personal challenge from the outfield.

I wanted him to pop a ball up into my territory so badly. I wanted to make an absolute highlight reel of a catch, to fire a laser throw back into the infield and make Victoria notice, to make her jump up and cheer for me the way she used to.

What Changed?

But Carter was just too fucking good. He caught the meat of the pitch every single

time, driving balls deep into the gaps, forcing me to sprint until my lungs burned just to track them down.

No matter how hard I tried to play out of my skin, he completely dominated the rotation.

During one transition between drills, I finally managed to lock eyes with her.

I looked for the old spark; the fierce, unconditional devotion that used to wait so patiently for me to give her a single nod.

It wasn’t there.

When she realized I was looking, she didn’t perk up. She just offered me a simple, polite, encouraging smile, the kind you give a stranger who’s having a rough day at

work.

Eventually, it seemed like she could predict exactly how the rest of the afternoon would go. She stopped watching the field entirely, shifting her focus down to a massive textbook she had spread across her lap.

Classic Victoria Rhodes.

A few minutes later, she packed her highlighters into her bag, stood up from the metal bench, and started walking toward the athletic fieldhouse,

I didn’t even hesitate. I dropped my glove by the rack and turned to the assistant

coach.

“Coach, I need a quick break. Have Noah take over my spot in the outfield rotation.”

Without waiting for an answer, I unbuttoned my batting gloves and followed her path across the grass.

I caught up to her inside the main corridor of the fieldhouse, stepping out from the shadow of the equipment lockers just as she came out of the restroom.

Victoria gasped, taking a quick step back as her shoulders bunched up. But the moment her eyes registered my face, she let out a loud, dramatic groan, dropping her arms to her sides.

“Jesus, Caleb,” she sighed, leaning her back against the brick wall. “Since when did you become a locker–room stalker? You know I could literally get you banned from the athletic wing for this, right?”

“Very funny,” I said, forcing a casual smile to match her energy, though my chest felt incredibly tight.

I leaned one hand against the wall beside her head.

“Coach gave us a ten–minute breather. I saw you packing up your stuff. You’re leaving

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al Changed”

early?”

“Yeah, my brain is fried and I have a lab report due at midnight,” she said, adjusting the strap of her bag.

She looked up at me, her eyes clear and entirely open.

“Why? Did you need me to look over your stats before I go?”

“No, I’m good on stats.” I hesitated, scratching the back of my neck like I was just bringing up random campus gossip.

“I just… I saw you and Carter out there on the fence before. You guys looked pretty cozy.”

Victoria let out a short, amused laugh, shaking her head.

“Well, he is my boyfriend, Cal. Usually, that involves a little bit of cozy.”

The casual, easy way she threw that word around–boyfriend–made my stomach flip. I forced a dry chuckle, trying to sound like the protective best friend who knew her better than anyone else.

“Come on, Tori. It’s me. You don’t have to put on the performance. I just find it hard to believe you’re suddenly into a guy like Elijah Carter. He’s completely opposite from your usual type. He’s loud, he’s arrogant…” I trailed off, looking for any flicker of hesitation in her eyes.

“Are you sure you aren’t just doing this to get a reaction out of someone? Maybe an ex or someone else?”

Her brows furrowed instantly, but it wasn’t the look of a guilty girl. It was pure, genuine confusion.

“Get a reaction out of his ex?” Victoria let out a short, completely unbothered laugh, shaking her head.

“Please, Caleb. I already get enough heat from your girlfriend just for standing near you when I’m literally like a sister to you. I don’t plan on entertaining any more drama from another woman because of a man. Lexi is enough.”

My brain completely stalled, bypassing everything else she said to lock onto three specific words.

“Like a sister?” I repeated, my voice dropping,

Victoria looked at me, a confused smile touching her lips as if I had just asked the dumbest question in the world.

“Yes, Caleb. We’re basically like siblings. You literally always say that.”

I stood there, completely paralyzed, the air leaving my lungs. The absolute lack of double–meaning in her voice sent a chilling shock through my entire system.

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What Changed?

She wasn’t trying to make me jealous. She wasn’t playing a game to get my attention.

Did this mean the last fifteen years of her devotion had been completely in my head?

Had I imagined the way she used to look at me?

No, I was absolutely certain she had been crushing on me. But looking at her right now, she seemed completely detached from that old reality.

Before I could even find my voice to argue, the digital ring of her phone broke the silence inside her purse.

Victoria quickly zipped her bag open, pulling the device out. From over her shoulder! caught the name flashing across the screen.

Elijah.

A muscle in my jaw twitched violently, my teeth grinding together so hard it ached. Victoria didn’t even look back up at me. She placed her hand firmly against my chest, pushing me back with a surprising amount of strength, and stepped around my arm to create some distance.

“Look, I don’t know what’s got you so stressed out today. But you seriously need to get your shit together. And stop being so weirdly jealous of Elijah. It’s not a good look on you.”

The accusation hit my ego, crushing it into fine powder. I froze, my eyes widening in

shock.

“You think I’m jealous of Elijah Carter?”

“Um… you’ve always been?” Victoria scoffed, completely unbothered by my rising

temper.

Her phone buzzed again, the screen lighting up his name. She looked down at the display, then back up at my face with a flat expression.

“Look, I have to go. See you around, Cal.”

She slid her thumb across the screen to accept the line, turning on her heel to walk toward the heavy exit doors.

Just before she pushed the metal bar open, she paused. She cast a brief, lingering glance back over her shoulder at me, a tiny, almost imperceptible smile touching the very corner of her lips.

With that, she stepped out into the bright afternoon sunlight, leaving me entirely alone in the empty corridor.

Rent–Free

Victoria’s POV

My phone had practically jumped off my desk during my afternoon seminar, the screen flashing Eva’s contact over and over until the professor gave me a pointed look.

The second I stepped out into the hallway and pressed answer, Eva’s hysterical screaming nearly split my eardrum.

‘The apartment is on fire, Victoria. The whole complex is burning.’

I don’t even remember the walk or the bus ride back. I just remember running the last three blocks, my lungs bursting, my throat completely parched, until the smell of burning rubber and heavy black smoke filled the air.

By the time I breached the corner of our street, the scene was completely overwhelming.

Three fire engines blocked the asphalt, their red lights splashing across the brick facade of our building.

Thankfully, the firemen had arrived fast enough to contain the worst of it to the southern wing, but the damage was extensive. The air was thick with soot and water

vapor.

“Rhodes! Over here!”

I spun around to find Eva standing near the perimeter line, her face smudged with charcoal, her eyes bloodshot and swollen.

I dashed over.

“We lost a lot of the furniture,” Eva choked out, pulling back to point at a small pile of plastic crates the rescue team had pulled onto the sidewalk.

“But I managed to grab your desk organizers before they blocked the stairwell. All your academic documents, your passport, your certificates… they’re complete. I made sure of it.”

A profound, breathless wave of relief washed over me.

“Oh my goodness, Eva, thank you. That’s all that matters. Everything else is just clothes and old textbooks.”

But the small mercy of saving our paperwork couldn’t drown out the absolute devastation surrounding us.

A few feet away, our elderly landlady, Mrs. Gable, was sitting on a plastic crate, her head buried in her hands as she wept hysterically.

Neighbors were huddled in small, quiet groups, wrapped in gray emergency blankets,

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staring blankly at the ruined structure.

Then, the true horror of the afternoon settled over the crowd. A few rows down, a young mother was screaming, her voice cracking in unadulterated agony as paramedics swarmed around a small, covered gurney.

They had lost their child to the smoke.

Put next to that family’s tragedy, our lost clothes and ruined devices didn’t mean a damn thing.

Eva and I just held onto each other, shaking in absolute silence, until Keith, Eva’s boyfriend, arrived on a dead sprint.

A few minutes later, the estate manager walked down the line along with Mrs. Gable stopping by every displaced tenant.

“We are so incredibly sorry,” the manager began, his face pale and tight as he looked at

everyone.

“The fire inspectors have already confirmed it was a major technical malfunction in the main basement breaker. The property management company is taking full responsibility. We are arranging temporary hotel vouchers for everyone, and you will be fully compensated for property damage and emotional distress once the assessments are finalized.”

I just nodded blindly, too emotionally drained to even process the mention of money.

By the time the sun began to dip below the horizon, the crowd had completely trickled

away.

The fire engines packed up, leaving nothing but a thick layer of yellow caution tape wrapped securely around the perimeter of our building.

I sat down on the curb a few yards away, my knees pulled tightly to my chest, staring at the charred window frames.

My thoughts immediately took a turn for the worst, and before I knew it, I was completely drowning in all the ‘what–ifs.

How on earth was I going to survive the next few weeks of college? Finals were literally around the corner, and now my entire living situation was completely incinerated.

I couldn’t just keep staying at Elijah’s condo indefinitely. He had invited me for a temporary arrangement, but extending it made me feel like an absolute leech, a charity case taking up his space because I had nowhere else to go.

I couldn’t go to my sister Willow’s place either; her apartment was hours away, and the daily commute would make it impossible to attend 7 A.M lectures.

And after my last terrifying experience being cornered by those men, living out of my

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car was completely out of the equation. I was trapped.

“Victoria!”

The deep, breathless shout broke through my thoughts. I blinked, lifting my head up from my knees.

Running straight down the middle of the empty street, a dark leather jacket thrown haphazardly over his t–shirt and his face tight with panic, was Elijah.

I stared at him in complete shock, my chest tightening as my mind struggled to understand why he was here.

I pushed myself up from the curb, my legs slightly wobbly.