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

Jacob hates biology. He tries pouting. It doesn’t work.


Avery turns back to the book in his lap and asks, “How about nucleolus?”


“How about we take a break?” Jacob wants to know. Timmy laughs a second time. Jacob wishes they were alone again.


Avery stares at him with unreadable eyes. “Please?” Jacob mouths the word so Timmy won’t hear him. When Avery doesn’t respond, he tries, “I love you.”


That brings a smile to Avery’s face. He blows Jacob a quick, silent kiss. “We’ll finish this ,” he says. “Then we’ll take a break.”


“Will you shut up already?” Timmy glances at Jacob over his shoulder, brow furrowed like a freshly plowed field. “Some of us really aretrying to study.”


“Fuck you,” Jacob mumbles, but he says it low enough that Timmy can pretend he doesn’t hear.


Avery nudges his leg again. “Stop it,” he admonishes. “He’s leaving in a half hour anyway.”


Jacob didn’t know that. “For what?” His whole body tingles at the thought of Timmy leaving.


Chapter 39