Thoughtful (Thoughtless, #1.5)(192)

Our first time together as a genuine couple was one of those pebble-in-the-pond moments that I knew I would remember for the rest of my life. And it was only the first of many, many moments that we were going to share together. Hopefully, it was the beginning of a lifetime together. Because that was what I wanted with her. Forever.

And a lifetime together actually seemed possible now. Several things were seeming possible lately. Matt had gotten confirmation about Bumbershoot. We were gonna rock the festival this summer, and who knew where that might lead. Denny and I continued to be on speaking terms. He even knew that Kiera and I were officially together, and he was still cordial with me. The other D-Bags were doing well. Rachel and Matt were still together, and so were Evan and Jenny. Griffin and Anna were…well, they were happy with whatever they were doing with each other. And Kiera and I…we were progressing at a steady pace, and I’d never been happier in all my life. Yes. Things were definitely looking up.

I’d never really given much thought to my future before now. I guess I’d never really believed I would have one, or one with any true significance or meaning. But now, so many things seemed possible to me, and those possibilities gave my life new meaning and purpose. I was actually excited to see what might happen next. I just prayed to God that I didn’t do anything stupid to screw it all up. I supposed only time would tell, but with Kiera by my side I felt good about my odds. I felt good about our odds. And for the first time, I was beginning to believe that my parents had been wrong about me. Sure, I might make mistakes, I might do things I shouldn’t, I might stumble and fall, and I might even hurt people in the process, but I was going to be just fine. We all were.





Bonus Material




Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed Thoughtful! Writing Kellan’s story was a time-consuming labor of love. Countless hours were spent making sure every single moment of the time period before, during, and after Thoughtless was captured. As a result, the original manuscript was huge! I mean, mammoth! Printing a book that size really wasn’t feasible, so sadly, it had to be trimmed for publication. But thanks to the magic of ebooks, I’m able to add a couple of those scenes back in for you, as bonus material. I hope you enjoy the extra insight!

There were quite a few cut scenes to choose from, but I decided to include the full confessions scene at the Space Needle. I really felt that fans of Thoughtless would be okay with the scene being omitted, since most of the revelations are already covered in Kellan’s thoughts, but I also felt that new fans of the series would like the more in-depth explanation of just what happened to Kellan in his past.

As a bonus to the bonus, I’ve also included a short scene that starts after Kellan and Kiera’s screaming match in the back room at Pete’s, where Kellan finally admits he is in love with Kiera, and Kiera finally agrees to let him into her heart. This bonus scene shows exactly how Kellan arranged the after-hours Space Needle tour…

Thank you all for being so supportive of my work. I appreciate each and every one of you!



Much love,





S. C. Stephens





Scene One





Making Arrangements




Evan let me talk with practically no interruptions. He asked a question every so often, and sometimes he’d frown or shake his head, but he kept most of his comments to himself. When I was finished, he knew almost everything that Kiera and I had gone through in our rocky relationship. The only comment he made when I was done was “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

I looked everywhere but at his warm brown eyes. “I knew what you’d say. That she wasn’t mine, and I couldn’t go there, and…I didn’t want to hear it.” I flashed a glance his way. “Honestly, I still don’t, but it’s kind of too late now.”

Evan cracked a smile. “Yeah. Cat’s out of the bag, right?”

I cringed as I remembered my angry outburst. God, I could be such a dick sometimes. “Yeah…right.” Evan softly chuckled beside me. When he was done, I asked him, “So…do you really think I’m a dog?”

Evan smiled and shook his head, then nodded. “Yes…sometimes you really are.”

I jabbed him in the shoulder while he laughed again. With a shake of my head, I sighed and said, “Yeah, I suppose I am sometimes.”

Evan’s amused expression turned more serious. “Despite it all, I think you’re a good person, Kellan, and I know you’ll do the right thing.”

Even though I wasn’t so sure that I would, or that I even knew what the right thing was, I nodded. My mind drifted to Kiera, and I focused Evan’s statement on her. If I took Denny out of the equation, what would be the right thing between the two of us? That question was actually an easy one. Honesty was what we needed. The air needed to be cleared, barriers needed to be torn down. I needed to show her the deepest areas of me and hope that didn’t scare her off. But I’d already shown her plenty of darkness, and she was still mine, so I felt okay exposing my innermost soul to her. For the first time in my life, I wanted to open up to someone…about everything.

And I knew the exact right place to do it. But arrangements would need to be made, and I couldn’t make them from here. I needed to leave, which meant I needed to walk through the bar…and I’d probably see Denny. That couldn’t be helped though. I couldn’t stay hidden back here all night.