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

He stares at the road as he heads into town. The stretch is a two-lane highway and this early in the day, they’re the only ones on it. Parker doesn’t have the radio on. The only sound between them is the steady thump of the tires over tarmac. “Maybe it’s something else,” he says hopefully. “You know?”


Parker glances over at Avery, who nods not because he does know but because Parker expects him to be encouraging. That’s why Parker asked him along. “Maybe it’s something else completely.”


Avery can’t imagine what that something else might be.


The first store they come to is a Rite Aid. Avery has never stopped here before. He thinks after today, he’s never going to step foot into this store again.


Chapter 37