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

“I never thought he’d ever die,” Mike says. “I mean…”


“I know what you mean.” Jacob tries to picture how he’d feel if his mom called and said her father was gone. Gone. Jacob feels tears prick his eyes at the thought so he blinks them away. He thinks back to this past June, when he last saw his grandparents. He remembers his grandpa showing him the new mare he bought, already with foal. He remembers Pop’s strong hands, tanned, lined, ancient. He can’t imagine those hands stiff and cold and gray. He doesn’t wantto imagine it. So he won’t.


And he’s tired of talking about it now, too. “What time is your mom coming to get you?”


“In the morning,” Mike whispers. “Before class.”


Chapter 46