All The Ways We Touch [MxM]

three - caffeine and defrosting

Stepping off the bus, Jamison walked the block down to The House, a popular and cozy house-turned-café in the downtown district of Forest Grove, where students could sit and study all day and night as they never closed. It was also a nice place to socialize, with comfortable seating and pastries, in addition to its variety of coffees and teas.

It'd been close to six months since he'd been hired by Wren, a willowy blonde with high cheekbones and gray eyes. Kind and friendly, she took to Jamison immediately, hiring him despite his lack of work history. Truthfully, as much as it surprised him, he didn't hate this job, though he gave all of the credit to her, and its hippie owners, The Sheppards.

Opening the door, he smiled as Wren came from around the register, her platform boots making her as tall as him. At his side, she leaned in, hugging him. With his hand on her forearm, he waited, letting her squeeze him until the bell rang above the door and a couple of customers entered.

He hadn't always been able to handle her touch for so long, but after patience, a lot of mint candies, and practice, he'd learned to work through enough of the anxiety. Although she'd never made him sick and he'd managed to come to be able to endure her touch, it wasn't enjoyable and made him hopeless for the future, not that he thought about that kind of thing.

Slipping into the back, he clocked in, hung his backpack and jacket up, slipped on an apron, and washed his hands as quickly as possible. Returning to the front, he found that Wren was already done with the order, her head bouncing along to the playlist she'd made.

"Coffee and Twee, again?"

"It's not my fault you don't like Belle and Sebastian."

Rolling his eyes, he nodded to the coffee bar behind the counter. "Aren't you going to offer me a drink before you start to insult me?"

Clapping her hands together, she nodded. "I have something new for you to try."

"Does it have caffeine? I need caffeine."

"Don't you trust me?"

The bell rang and Jamison turned, putting on a smile for the customer. "Hey. What can I get for you?"

After they'd paid, he grabbed an oversized snickerdoodle cookie and slipped it inside a paper sleeve. Setting it before the customer, he turned around and watched Wren put the final touches on the apple pie latte the customer ordered and handed it to them.

"Enjoy!" They said in unison, making Jamison sigh.

When the front was free of any customers, he turned to Wren. "We're so embarrassing. We sync up and sound like a couple of idiots."

In the six months he'd worked there, he and Wren had become close. Not close enough that he'd told her about his past, or much else in his life, but enough that she was the only person he'd even consider to be something of a friend. Though now that the others had entered the picture, well, who knew?

There had been ups and downs over that time, like when Jamison had to explain that he couldn't handle being touched, and worse when he had to tell her that he didn't like her like that. Not that she should take it hard though, as he didn't like anyone like that. Despite her prying for specifics, he just shrugged and told her that he didn't feel those types of feelings, not bothering to elaborate on how much more complicated it was than claiming he didn't feel attraction. Even so, she had her suspicions, but never pushed it, and came to overcome her crush.

Finishing making the drink, Wren set it down in front of him and folded her arms over her chest as she looked on expectantly.

"So what is it?" Looking down at the cup, Jamison raised a brow and then looked back to Wren.