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

Avery reads another line of Shakespeare before he replies. “Not yet.” He’s stopped looking at his watch when he answers. He knows it’s not time.


Ten minutes later. Jacob asks, “Now?” Exactly ten minutes since he last asked. It’s uncanny. Avery wonders if he’s counting the seconds off in his head.


“No,” Avery tells him. “Not now.”


Another ten minutes go by. This time Jacob asks, “Quelle heure est-il?”


Avery is impressed. “Il n’y a pas sept heures.” He grins at the look of confusion that crosses Jacob’s face. So he takes his watch off and sets it between them on the table. “There. Now you don’t have to keep asking.”


Jacob frowns at the watch. It’s not even 6:30 yet. Avery thinks the boy will never make it to seven.


Chapter 28