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

But he’s not thinking about December yet. And he sure as hell isn’t thinking about the new year, or Avery’s graduation, or the next year, Jacob’s junior year of high school without Avery. He doesn’t want to think of that at all. He ignores the college catalogues that clutter Avery’s floor. When the reps come to talk with the seniors, lining one wall of the cafeteria during lunches, Jacob glares at them because he knows they’ve come to take Avery away from him.


Not thinking that,he reminds himself. He snuggles closer to Avery, burrowing his head into Avery’s shoulder until he feels his lover’s arms tighten around him. Lover.It’s such a seductive word, sophisticated, grown-up, adult.They’re lovers now. Not just boyfriends, and worlds more than friends. Lovers.


And Avery says he’s amazing. Jacob feels his cheeks heat at that. He’s glad Avery is still asleep. He thinks Avery is more than amazing. He thinks he’s fucking phenomenal. Jacob suspects it doesn’t get much better than this.


Chapter 52