No Prince

by Stevie J. Cole

I didn’t need a white knight or a savior. This was not a fairytale. I was no damsel, and Zeppelin Hunt was certainly no prince.

“I’m gonna go to jail for something, Roe. Might as well be you.”

“Who doesn’t drink milkshakes? You really are a psychopath.” “And you really are hot.”

“So am I. But you don’t see me avoiding shit.” “The first time I noticed you was two summers ago when you were washing some shit car in your drive. I told the guys you were off-limits.” He nudged me. “You’re welcome. Hendrix would have tried to screw you.”

“The truth never is. Anything pretty is always a lie.”

“You’re the only girl I’ve ever given a shit about.” I grabbed her hips and pulled her on top of me. Her hands went to my face. “Good.” And then she kissed me.

Her hand brushed my shoulder before her arms wrapped around my waist, her chin pressing to my shoulder. And goddamn, that broke me. I buried my face in her neck. Monroe was making herself a lifeline, and I was fucked. “That’s shit, Zepp.” “It’s just life, Monroe.”

His lips pressed to mine. He kissed me like I was oxygen and he was suffocating. It was so much more than a kiss; it felt like a promise, unbreakable and binding.

Then it hit me like an eighteen-wheeler barreling down a road: She was a stripper and a virgin. How messed up was that, that we lived the kind of life where she was rubbing her tits in men’s faces and straddling their laps when she hadn’t even had sex. Something about that was downright tragic. Monroe James wasn’t at all what I had thought she was—what anyone thought she was. And she was so much better than I deserved.

had never given a shit about a girl before, and somehow, this girl had managed to break me apart without even trying. Because I was pretty damn sure I was in love with her.

“I could never love anyone else, Roe. You’re it for me.” And he was it for me. Because no one had ever loved me like he did. And I wasn’t sure I could live without it.

He said he loved me, but he didn’t try to stop me from leaving. He had just let me go. He let me go…

Zeppelin Hunt would always be the boy who had shown me what love was, even when he couldn’t love himself.

“I meant it when I told you I would never love anyone the way I loved you. Because I won’t love anyone but you.”

kissed him, knowing there would never be anyone else for me but him. No one could come close. Our happily ever after wasn’t shiny or pretty, but it was ours. He was no prince, but Zepp Hunt was mine. Always.