Sixteen year old Jacob Smithson has quite a temper. He’s picked on by other kids because he likes boys, and recent fighting has kicked him out of public school. As a last resort, his parents have placed him in the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Boarding School for Boys.<br><br>It’s at his first mass at St. Thomas where he sees Avery Dendritch, a senior who serves as altar boy during the service. When they meet, the attraction between them is hard to deny. The two become fast friends, and as the school year progresses, their friendship deepens into something more. For the first time, Jacob has found a place where he belongs ... and someone with whom he’s falling in love.<br><br>But the other students gossip about their growing relationship, and while Avery can ignore them, Jacob cannot. As the rumors and slurs start up again, can he curb his temper, or will his penchant for fighting get him expelled from St. Thomas, as well?

Without Sin

But he sure as hell doesn’t say that.


Another deep Vader-esque breath, and the monsignor asks, “Why did you threaten the other student?”


Jacob pouts. “He said a friend of mine liked it up the ass.”


If he’s hoping to shock the monsignor, he fails.


The monsignor removes his glasses and sets them aside. Without the frames he looks all the more like Obi-Wan Kenobi, with his white beard and white hair, and the lines etched into his face.


Use the Force, Luke.Jacob wishes his brain would shut up so he won’t get into any more trouble.


“Fighting of any sort is not allowed on school grounds,” the monsignor tells him. Jacob nods. “Do you think we should call your parents?”


Jacob shakes his head. “No.” He doesn’t want to hear his mom cry over the phone.


For a long moment the monsignor watches him, those heavy-lidded eyes of his pinning Jacob in place like a captured butterfly.


Chapter 8