J. Tomas

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 sighs. Jacob smiles at the sound, so lost, so defeated. Avery knows he won’t get much math done tonight, not if Jacob has his way. And Jacob almost always has his way. Avery tells him, “When Parker and I went to the store that morning? Before class?”


Jacob remembers. “For the pregnancy test?” Avery nods. “How did that work out?”


“False alarm.” Avery bends over his notebook like he doesn’t want Jacob to see what he’s writing. Jacob peeks over his arm anyway. It’s just fractions, though in the margin of the page Avery has drawn a spray of tiny hearts. He sees Jacob looking and points to the hearts. “Those are for you.”


“I love them.” Jacob takes Avery’s hand and kisses the fleshy pad between his knuckles. “I loveyou.False alarm?”


Finally Avery looks up at him. There’s that smile that’s just for him. “Yeah. She got her period that day at work. False alarm.”


“So she’s not pregnant?” Jacob laughs. “That’s good, right?”


Chapter 43