Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 95

Why Do You Care So Much?

Victoria’s POV

The gravel driveway of the Ashfield estate crunched under my feet as I finally stepped out into the afternoon air.

The front door clicked shut behind me, instantly cutting off the stifling luxury of the mansion and the polite conversations that had been filling my ears for hours.

I took a deep, filling breath, letting the tension leave my shoulders.

i looked toward the iron gates, expecting to see Elijah leaning against his car, waiting to make his usual sarcastic comment about how long I’d taken.

Instead, parked at the curb was a massive matte–black van.

I stopped in my tracks.

“Okay… what the fuck is this? A spaceship?”

The thing looked like it belonged in a sci–fi movie. The windows were blacked out, the body was perfectly smooth, and after a full five seconds of staring, I still couldn’t find a single door handle.

Before I could figure it out, the passenger door glided open with a soft hiss.

“No fucking way…”

I blinked at it for a second before cautiously leaning inside.

My jaw dropped.

For a second, I thought I’d peeked into someone’s luxury apartment by mistake. Whoever designed this had clearly forgotten it was supposed to be a van.

There were custom leather captain’s chairs that could rotate completely around, a small polished wooden table in the center, built–in ambient lighting along the roof, and a massive screen built into the partition wall.

Up front, the dashboard was entirely digital, devoid of a traditional steering column.

Elijah was sitting in the driver’s seat, though he was currently reclined so far back he was practically lying down.

He had his ankles crossed over the edge of the console, a relaxed expression on his face as he tapped something on his tablet.

“Elijah Carter what have you done? What on God’s green earth is this?” I muttered, stepping fully into the van.

The door slid shut behind me, sealing out the afternoon heat.

Elijah glanced up, an amused smile pulling at his lips.

Why Do You Care So Much?

“It’s a smart van. Autonomous electric drivetrain. Basically, it drives itself so I don’t have to keep my eyes on the highway for three hours.”

I stood in the center of the cabin, looking at the plush carpets and the ridiculous

amount of space.

“Elijah, this is insane. Why would you spend this much money on a rental? There were so many cheaper options. And what about your car? We drove here in it.”

He lowered his legs, shifting around in his seat to face me completely. His dark eyes were entirely calm as they tracked my frantic pacing.

“Because you’ve been living out of a hospital room for three weeks, Toria. You’ve been sleeping on a plastic recliner, eating stale cafeteria sandwiches, and stressing yourself to the bone. I wanted the drive back to campus to actually be comfortable for you.”

He shrugged lightly.

“As for my car, the rental company offers a swap service. They’ll collect it and return mine to campus.”

I stopped pacing, and turned to look at him. Really looked at him.

He was sitting there so casually, wearing a simple gray hoodie with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, speaking about this massive, incredibly thoughtful gesture as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

He had coordinated this entire thing just to give me a few hours of peace.

A lump settled in my throat. My eyes burned, and before I could force out a single word, a tear slipped down my cheek.

The moment Elijah saw them, his expression changed. Whatever calm he’d been wearing vanished.

He rose from his seat without hesitation and crossed the small space between us.

“Hey, hey, hey. What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

I didn’t get to answer before he reached out, his arms closing around my shoulders and pulling me against his chest.

I couldn’t hold it together anymore.

A sob ripped through me. Then another. I clutched the front of his hoodie, my breathing falling apart between cries.

Elijah didn’t say a word. He just held me tightly, his hand resting firmly against the back of my head, anchoring me to him.

After a few long minutes, my breathing finally began to level out. I pulled back slightly, wiping my damp cheeks with the back of my hands, feeling suddenly very self-

conscious.

25

Why Do You Care So Much

i looked up at him, and for a moment, I didn’t trust myself to speak.

“You don’t have to keep doing this for me, Elijah,” I whispered, my voice thick and trembling.

“You keep showing up, you keep taking care of me, you bought food, you looked after Caleb… and now this. I have nothing to offer you. I don’t have anything to give you in return for all of this.”

Elijah’s brow furrowed, his jaw tightening slightly as he cut me off.

“I never asked you to offer me anything, Victoria.”

The use of my actual name made me freeze. He stepped closer, the space between us disappearing completely.

“I don’t do things for you because I’m keeping a scorecard,” he continued. “I enjoy doing this for you. I like taking care of you. You don’t owe me a single thing.”

I stared at him, completely lost in the depth of his obsidian eyes. The silence in the van felt charged, thick with things we hadn’t put into words yet.

I looked at the sharp line of his jaw, the gentle curve of his mouth, and the absolute sincerity in his face.

“Why?” I asked, the single word barely louder than a breath. “Why do you care so much?” Elijah looked down at me for a long, quiet beat. Slowly, he raised his hand, his thumb gently catching the last remnant of a tear on my cheekbone.

His palm cradled the side of my face, his fingers stroking over my skin with a tenderness that made my breath hitch.

“I’d be lying if I told you I knew the exact answer to that,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips for a split second before returning to my eyes.

“All I know is that when you’re stressed, I want to fix it. When you’re hurting, I want to be the one who makes it stop.”

My heart hammered against my ribs, a loud, undeniable thudding that I was certain he could hear.

Time seemed to stall. He was so close now that all I could think about was the tiny gap separating our mouths.

Then, with a subtle, practiced ease, Elijah detoured.

He let his hand drop from my face, a familiar, playful spark returning to his eyes as he took a step back, breaking the tension entirely.

“Besides, I didn’t rent this massive lounge on wheels just for you to cry in it. I actually have some activities planned for us.”

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