40: The Happy Camper

[ K A R A ] "Kara, if you go... you're gonna lose me, forever," Those were the last words that Cole said to me before we parted ways. No matter how much I wanted to believe that it wasn’t true, I knew it was true. He meant what he said. In the fight for Ryder and I’s happy ending, I had lost my best friend. When I got home later that night, Ryder saw the look on my face and he immediately knew that something was wrong. With a worried look on his eyes, Ryder got up from the couch, walked over to me, and cupped my face in his hands. “Hey, have you been crying?” he asked softly. “Baby, what’s wrong?” I didn’t want to tell him. I didn’t want him to worry about me or change his mind about us. So I just shook my head and said, “It’s nothing… I just saw lost puppy in the park. It looked so sad,” “Oh, baby girl, c’mere,” he cooed and pulled me into a hug. He put his hand on the back of my head and stroked my hair gently. “Do you want us to adopt a puppy?” “No, it’s okay,” I laughed meekly. “I