Cover

Painful

Painful

By S.C. STEPHENS

Books By S.C. Stephens

BOOKS BY S.C. STEPHENS

THOUGHTLESS SERIES

Thoughtless

Effortless (Book 2)

Reckless (Book 3)

Thoughtful (Thoughtless alternate POV)

Painful (Effortless alternate POV)

Untamed (Book 4)

RUSH SERIES

Furious Rush

Dangerous Rush (Book 2)

Undeniable Rush (Book 3)

CONVERSION SERIES

Conversion

Bloodlines (Book 2)

‘Til Death (Book 3)

The Next Generation (Book 4)

The Beast Within (Book 5)

Family is Forever (Book 6)

STANDALONE BOOKS

Collision Course

It’s All Relative

Under the Northern Lights

Something Like Perfect

Dedication

For everyone at Pete’s Bar. Thank you for keeping Kellan alive.

Chapter 1

EVERYTHING I’VE ALWAYS WANTED

The summer sun pounded on me as I waited in the backstage area with my bandmates, Evan, Matt, and Griffin. The merciless rays made sweat form in every nook and cranny on my body, but I didn’t care. It could have been twenty degrees hotter, and I wouldn’t have cared. I was about to perform at the largest venue the D-Bags had ever played at—Bumbershoot. And while that fact filled me with adrenaline, it wasn’t what was giving me an almost giddy sense of euphoria. My girlfriend was going to be in the crowd. Girlfriend. Just the word made me feel like I was floating. Kiera Allen was now mine, wholly and completely. She loved me, a fact that was still hard to grasp sometimes. I’d gotten so used to no one giving a shit. But Kiera did, and my band did, and that was more than enough for me. More than I ever thought I’d get out of this life.

“Fucking hell…I’m so nervous.”

I turned to see Matt clutching his guitar case, looking for all the world like he wished he could hide inside it. Matt was the brains behind the band. He handled our schedule, made sure we were all where we were supposed to be, basically kept us on track. While Matt pushed for our success, he had always been a little apprehensive about performing. Not because of the music—he loved that part—but because the stress of being in the spotlight was something he struggled with every time he went on stage. It made me appreciate him doing this for us even more. But for him, the D-Bags playing at Bumbershoot never would have happened; we’d probably still be playing out of a garage or something.

“You’ll be fine,” I said, clapping the thin blond on the back. “It’s just like Pete’s.” Matt smiled, but there wasn’t any humor in his pale eyes.

Matt’s almost identical lookalike, his cousin, Griffin, slung an arm over Matt’s shoulders. “Yeah, do what I do, cuz…picture ‘em all naked. And screwing. Hot and heavy, all getting it on with each other…Yeah…”