Awkwardly Yours, Sincerely Autism

By Penelope Rivers

Twenty-five-year old Oliver has known his best friend, Corey, and his autistic brother, Amos, his whole life. He thought he had his friendship with Amos all figured out, but when Amos confesses and kisses him, he realizes his feelings run far deeper. Oliver must learn how to change how he sees disability... and find love in the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight
• Release date: Nov 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9780369507259

Penelope Rivers

Penelope Rivers is a bestselling author of erotica, romance novels and short stories. A hopeless dreamer, she spends her day thinking about all things fantasy, romantic and hot. It is her view that when you start choking on the occasionally dry bread of life, you need something sinfully delicious to chase it down with. Currently, she lives in Utah with an abnormal amount of pets.

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Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2022 Penelope Rivers

ISBN: 978-0-3695-0725-9

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Lisa Petrocelli

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

For Rachel Morano, who helps me more than I can say.

AWKWARDLY YOURS, SINCERELY AUTISM

Penelope Rivers

Copyright © 2022

Prologue

June 10, 1998

The summer day was hot and balmy. Mountains created perfect guardians for the cities below. Oliver and his best friend and next-door neighbor, Corey, were heading up a trail that had been in their backyards since their dads were shooting blanks into crusty old socks. While they walked, Oliver carried his backpack full of snacks he’d stolen from Corey’s pantry, snacks they weren’t really supposed to have, like Skittles and Coke.

Behind them, Oliver heard the sound of pounding feet and he knew exactly who they belonged to—Corey’s younger brother, Amos. Unfortunately, Corey knew he was there too, since his mom had said, Let Amos hang with you guys. He doesn’t have any friends, to which Corey had given the snide reply of, I wonder why?

The thing about Amos was that he had autism. He’d been in the special ed unit in school since the very beginning. He hadn’t talked until he was older, and he was bullied like crazy at school. To make matters worse, he flapped his hands as if it could propel him off the earth and whisk him away to paradise, to a place where no one could make fun of him anymore. Corey had always had to play second fiddle to Amos with his parents, and he’d been nothing but bitter. Oliver pitied him and something warmer … something protective.

Come on, guys. Amos finally caught up with them. Mom won’t let me go home. She wants me to hang out with someone.

Why does it have to be us? Corey muttered under his breath, then spoke up. Fine. I guess you can come.

Though Amos didn’t smile, his blue eyes brightened, and his cheeks became a rosy pink underneath his head of golden-blond curls. Today Amos was a walking advertisement for Cartoon Network. He wore white sneakers decorated in Teen Titans stickers and his shirt had a big picture of Robin on the front. Oliver preferred books over TV, though he’d never tell Corey because he’d make fun of him for it, but he appreciated the fact that Amos had that much dedication to something.

The three of them were silent for the next mile until they reached a cluster of trees. The batches of leaves provided shade on the trail below. A river cut through the mountain a few yards away, perfect for cooling off on hot days. This place was their place, Oliver and Corey’s, and now Amos’s too. Oliver climbed up on his favorite boulder and started to dig around in his backpack. His mom only allowed him to have candy on special occasions so the Skittles were a treat. He pulled out Skittles as Amos stood awkwardly to one side, appearing as if he didn’t know what to do with himself.

Hey, Amos, want some Skittles? As if he’d been drowning and Oliver had offered a hand, Amos’s shoulders relaxed.

No, don’t give him any. Corey leaned against the biggest tree. We only brought enough for the two of us.

Even Oliver had to step in at some point. Don’t be an asshole.

I’m not. Two packs for me, two packs for you. Corey shook his finger at Amos, who had a blank expression on his face as if he’d just read a boring article in the newspaper. Don’t take one of my packs.

Fine. Oliver motioned for Amos to come over. "You can have some of my half of the Skittles. Two packs will give me a stomachache anyway."

Instead of coming over straightaway, Amos fell silent, his eyes on Oliver’s shoes. Then, out of nowhere, he lifted his gaze for the first time in ages. His eyes met Oliver’s and a strange weakness in his legs made him grateful he was sitting down. The silence between them said a thousand words, but it was in a language Oliver didn’t understand. Corey running over to grab the backpack from him broke through the moment, and Oliver remembered how to breathe.

You know what we should do? Corey tore open his pack of candy and poured it into his mouth. Without giving a rat’s ass whether they cared or not, he continued to talk with the candy rolling around in his wide-open trap. We should play Truth or Dare.

The thing about Corey was he had a reason for everything he did. Usually, when it had anything to do with his brother, the reason wasn’t kind. Why?

I just had a fun idea. Corey shrugged as if it was nothing, but Oliver knew the mischievous glow in his eye. His friend wore the same look he’d had when he’d turned off his dad’s alarm the day of his huge presentation. Don’t be a pussy. For once, Corey smiled at his brother, which didn’t bode well for his intentions. Amos is okay with playing, right, Amos? Amos didn’t say anything, so Corey clapped him on his shoulder. Great. Oliver, you go first.

Corey, truth or dare? Due to being friends since they were still shitting in their diapers, Oliver already knew what his friend would choose.

Dare. Yep. Typical.

Trying to hide his smile, Oliver came up with something he knew would piss him off. I dare you to hug Amos.

What? Corey grabbed a fistful of his own hair and pulled. Sick. He tried what worked on most of the adults in his life—charm. Can I do something else? Pretty please?

Hug your brother or he gets all your Skittles. Oliver hid the remaining food behind his back. They were the same size, but Oliver was in soccer and ran 5Ks with his mom. No way could Corey keep up with him.

Fine. Corey made a strangled sound, then turned toward Amos.

Has to be five seconds or it doesn’t count, Oliver chimed in.

Corey gave him the finger.

Appearing as though he was just as thrilled by the arrangement as Corey, Amos’s hands were rigid at his side as Corey gave Amos a hug so stiff Oliver had to hide a laugh. When they pulled apart, Corey was scowling, appearing as though he’d just had a makeout session with a cockroach.

My turn. The embarrassment from having to give his brother actual affection waned, and a grin reappeared on his face. Amos, truth or dare?

Amos swayed, blinked rapidly, and didn’t say anything. Oliver jumped off the rock, disgusted with his friend. Knock it off, Corey, or I’m not going to hang out with you anymore.

He’s fine. Still grinning, Corey elbowed Amos in the stomach. Right?

Looking like he’d just had to eat the cockroach Corey had made out with, Amos nodded.

"Great. How about dare? Pretending to be subtle but terrible at acting, Corey faked spotting a beehive, hanging from one of the fat trees. Oliver had actually been the first one who’d spotted it a few days ago, and right now he wished he’d kept his mouth shut. I dare you to poke the hornets’ nest with a stick."

Poking a hornets’ nest would be dangerous. Making fun of Amos was bad enough, but this … Oliver swallowed. No, Corey can’t possibly want to hurt Amos, could he? He must be joking. Though there were many things Amos didn’t understand, he grasped what poking a nest meant and shook his head, hands clamped over his ears.

See? I knew you’d puss out, Corey said.

As Corey laughed, Oliver understood. He’d never wanted Amos to poke the nest. He just wanted to make fun of Amos for not doing it. Corey was too busy being an asshole to notice, but Amos’s eyes were wet with tears he was trying to hide. This was sick. Being jealous of a sibling was one thing.

Dude, stop it. Since Corey wasn’t listening, Oliver punched him in the chest. Stop. It. You’re making him upset.

Ow. Corey shoved him backward. It’s a good thing he’s upset. Next time he knows he can’t follow us around. Cowards can’t hang out with us.

If I poke the nest, I can hang out with you? Amos’s back went almost as stiff as Corey’s had been during the hug.

Before either of them could answer, Amos picked a stick up off the ground and raced toward the tree. With steely determination, Amos prodded the nest. Time slowed down as hell descended upon the three of them. The hornets buzzed, stinging anything they could reach. World War Three. Corey let out a high-pitched scream and ran down the trail toward home, not giving two shits about either of them. But Oliver’s thoughts were on Amos, protecting him, getting him out of there. Though the air was piercing needles and he was scared to even breathe, he ran in the direction of Amos, not realizing it was him who was screaming and not Amos.

As if it