Page 42 of Soaring and Steadfast

“I bet your nads crawled back up…”

“I bet he ain’t got none no more…”

“Oh my gosh,” Louis muttered, horrified and embarrassed. “First off – do you even speak English?Ain’t got none?Really? Secondly, I shouldn’t have said anything to you dorks because you wouldn’t understand. And third – Ohio, you should know out of everyone…”

“Nope!”the other man said rolling over and shutting his curtain, yanking it loudly to where the bearings clattered in the small groove that it hung from. The other three men looked at each other in surprise.

“Has Ohio got a little something going…” Tic-Tak began, and Ohio quickly interrupted him.

“NO. I do not have anything going on – good night.”

The two men looked at Louis, raising their eyebrows in shock, and Louis lifted one brow, drew his curtain closed slowly as if to taunt them, and then lay back on his bunk to check his phone again… and sighed.

“Quit with the sighing!” someone hollered.

“Good night,” Louis answered flatly and texted Lila.

Sweet dreams, my friend. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LILA

That evening, when Stephanie and Trophy returned to the apartment, Lila was still sitting on the couch, lost in the storm of her thoughts. The events of the afternoon played on a relentless loop in her mind—every stolen glance, every whispered word, every touch that had sent fire through her veins. And his confession… oh, Louis had laid himself bare before her, offering up his heart with a bravery that she could never seem to summon within herself.

Why couldn’t she be that brave?

Why didn’t she just sayyes?

Now, here she sat, watching Stephanie and Trophy move through the apartment in an easy, intimate dance of unspoken understanding. They exchanged hushed whispers and knowing smiles, their love a tangible force between them. Trophy’s hand brushed Stephanie’s back absentmindedly, his attention always on her, his devotion to her so clear it was almost blinding. And then there was Angel—the tiny, perfect cherub nestled in Lila’s arms.

Lila stared down at the baby, at the softness of her tiny cheeks, the delicate rise and fall of her breath. The weight ofher was so small yet felt so profound, pressing against the hollow spaces inside Lila’s heart. The scent of newborn skin, the warmth of fragile life curled against her chest—it overwhelmed her. This was what Louis had offered her. A home, a family, love. A chance at something real, something lasting.

And she had let fear hold her back.

Because she had promised herselfnever again. Never again would she be trapped by a contract, by the weight of expectations, by a love that could one day turn into shackles.

She had clawed her way out of the wreckage once before—surviving it had taken everything she had. And what if she was wrong about Louis? What if, someday, he changed?

People alwayschanged.

Promises alwaysfaded.

The thought of losing him as a friend was as terrifying as the idea of losing him as something more. Because Louis had becomeher personover these past months—the steady, grounding force that had pulled her from the dark and made her believe in warmth again. Without him… she didn’t know who she would be anymore.

A soft touch pulled her from her thoughts.

Stephanie settled beside her, tucking a stray lock of hair behind Lila’s ear in a gesture so achingly maternal that it made Lila smile, despite the turmoil inside her.

"What’s going on in that head of yours?" Stephanie asked gently, her voice laced with concern. "I know you and that look….”

Lila hesitated, but what was the point in hiding it? "Louis," she admitted quietly.

Stephanie’s brows lifted. "Pasteur?"

"Yeah."

Stephanie studied her, then narrowed her eyes. "Did he say something to hurt your feelings? You’ve looked like someoneslapped you from the second we walked into the apartment—I was afraid it was me and the baby."

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