December 18th excerpt:

Geoff leaned in like an eager dog, his hand hovering over Dakota’s in anticipation. He’d never been entrusted with something so delicate, and he felt quite important at the moment. After the professor used a long pair of tweezers to pull the back of Sam’s shirt up to his shoulder blades, Geoff made short work of putting down one finger to keep it in place.

“Like this?” he asked, arranging his middle finger on Sam’s shoulders, his index at the base of his spine, and the pad of his thumb across the back of the little legs.

Dakota nodded in approval. “Very good,” he said distractedly. “Just keep your fingers out of the way.”

Sam instinctively tried to writhe free, the movement of tiny muscles visible on his back at the effort.