Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 81

Not Quite a Confession

Victoria’s POV

The way Elijah’s body was pressed against me made thinking impossible.

His chest was solid against mine, the heat of his skin bleeding through my clothes

until all I could register was him–his breathing, the way his body felt aligned with mine, the intensity in the space between us.

His fingers found my chin, tilting it up with a gentleness that didn’t match the look in his eyes.

Those dark eyes stayed locked on my mouth, and something in my stomach twisted tight at the hunger there.

His mouth met mine without hesitation, firm and certain, and the second I parted my lips he was in, his tongue sliding against mine in a slow, deliberate stroke that sent heat rushing straight through me.

He kissed me like he’d been holding back for too long.

I made a sound I didn’t recognize, something soft and needy, and my hands came up to grip his shoulders hard. I needed something to hold onto.

He answered by deepening the kiss, one hand sliding to the back of my neck to keep me exactly where he wanted.

The other settled at my waist, fingers flexing like he was fighting the urge to pull me

even closer.

I let him take what he needed.

Every slow drag of his tongue, every shift of his mouth against mine, made the rest of the world disappear.

My thoughts scattered. My body ached. I wanted more: more of his taste, more of the way he kissed like he was memorizing me, more of this feeling that had nothing to do with pretending anymore.

When he finally pulled back, we were both wrecked. Breathing hard. Lips brushing with every uneven exhale.

His forehead rested against mine for a second, eyes closed, like he needed the

contact as much as I did.

Then he moved. One arm slid beneath me as he eased us down onto the mattress,

pulling me with him until we were tangled–chest to chest, legs slotted together, his body half over mine in a way that felt protective and possessive all at once.

His arms wrapped around me tight. My face pressed into the curve of his neck. I could

No Cuite a Confession

feel his heart hammering against my cheek, fast and unsteady.

Neither of us spoke. We just held on, breathing each other in, the air still thick with everything we’d just done and everything we hadn’t yet.

“Seriously, though. This bed is ridiculously tiny. I feel like I’m trying to sleep inside a shoebox.”

I reached back and blindly smacked his solid chest with the palm of my hand.

“Hey! This bed served me perfectly well for eighteen years.”

“My deepest apologies, your royal highness,” he laughed quietly, the rumble of his chest moving directly against my shoulder blades.

A quiet, peaceful atmosphere settled over the room once more. We lay there in the dark, the steady rise and fall of his breathing acting as a grounding presence behind

1. me.

But the house around us wasn’t entirely silent. Through the old wooden floorboards and the thin drywall of the hallway, a sudden burst of loud laughter drifted into the

room.

I immediately recognized the bright, clear voices of Allison, Adele, and Betty. They were down the hall in Willow’s bedroom, clearly having some sort of late–night gossip

session.

A moment later, a deeper, muffled chorus of voices echoed from the spare guest room on the other side of the house–the guys were obviously still awake, too.

Everyone was having fun. It struck me then just how long it had been since this house

had felt so alive.

My childhood house had never felt this full, this alive, since I was a little girl, back when my parents would host massive holiday dinners and all of our cousins would stay over, filling the hallways with endless noise.

Having my college friends here, occupying the spaces I grew up in, felt incredibly surreal.

“I wonder what they’re all talking about out there,” I whispered into the dark room.

Elijah chuckled, his chin resting lightly on the top of my head. “The guys are probably doing what they do best–arguing over some ridiculous sports stat or screaming at a video game on someone’s phone. Don’t lose sleep over them.”

The silence returned, comfortable and deep. I shifted slightly within his hold, my hand sliding up to play with the thin silver chain of the necklace around his neck.

My fingers traced the cold metal links, my mind drifting back to how seamlessly he had integrated into my family over the last few hours.

2/4

No Quite a Confession

“Thank you,” I whispered into the quiet space between us.

寫

Elijah pulled back just a fraction of an inch, enough so he could look down into my face, his eyebrows raised in genuine confusion.

“For what?”

“For not being ashamed to introduce me to your friends,” I said softly, looking up into his dark eyes. “For letting me get to know all of them, and for actually showing up today. You didn’t have to do what you did for my parents, but you did. They are going to forever remember this weekend. It means the world to them.”

I smiled to myself, thinking about the fact that my mom and dad were probably lying in their own bedroom right now, talking about how wonderful my new friends were, a conversation they would likely repeat for years to come.

Elijah’s expression softened significantly. His large hands came up to cup both sides of my face, his thumbs gently stroking across my cheekbones with a tenderness that made my throat tighten.

“You don’t have to keep thanking me for every little thing, Zhen. If you recall, that flimsy fake relationship contract we signed did technically have a clause about family events.”

I let out a small frown, my lips puckering slightly.

“Oh. So you’re only doing all of this because of a stupid piece of paper? Because it’s in the clause?”

Elijah rolled his eyes, a fond, amused look crossing his features.

“You know that’s not true, Victoria. The contract aside… I care about you. Deeply.”

I searched his onyx eyes in the dim moonlight. They were clear, dark, and entirely stalwart, holding nothing but absolute truth to support his words.

He meant every single word.

The silence dragged between us for a long moment, the emotional weight of his admission hanging heavily in the space between our lips.

I stared at him for a long minute before I finally broke the stillness.

“They’re all going to be completely heartbroken when they find out,” I murmured, my voice dropping into a small, fragile whisper.

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