All The Ways We Touch [MxM]

seven - peer pressure

"This is how you think the rest of us should meet him? Ambushing him at the gas station while he's working?" Shifting in his seat, Sam tried and failed to find more room between Ant and Jack in the back seat of the Land Rover, Vera up front in the passenger's seat, and Elliot driving as usual. "Seems confrontational."

Although she was texting, Vera was a master at keeping her ears open and keen but subtle observation. Somehow she could be present while not being present at all. Pushing her inky black bob behind her ears, she glanced at Sam in the rearview mirror. "Are you worried he's going to replace you?" Teasing him, she pouted until Sam laughed. "He knows we're coming. Or that Elliot is, at least."

"Yeah, well, maybe Elliot should drop us off and then come back for him," he muttered. "I'm already tired and we're going to get out there pretty late. Ant's gonna fall asleep as soon as we get there!"

"Stop whining."

Pulling in, Elliot parked at the first pump, leaving the second for when Katie would arrive to fill up. Soon, everyone was out of the cars, with Ant, Sam, and Jack all stretching their legs.

Taking point, Elliot headed into the gas station first, followed by Vera, then Jack and Sam, and finally Ant who immediately went to the snack section, obviously not needing to introduce himself.

Standing up straight, Jamison dropped his pen and cracked his knuckles, trying to hide his overwhelm. "Uh, hi?"

"Everyone, this is your new friend, Jamison," Jack blurted out before Elliot could introduce him properly. Fortunately, he was standing with Vera in between them and was safe from his elbows, ear pulling, and kicks.

His green eyes scanned across them, but landed on Elliot, his face blank. "Let's go out for a smoke."

Filing outside, Jamison showed them where to stand and they formed a loose circle on the edge of the woods. Taking his final cigarette from his pack, he lit it and took a drag, looking at each of them as they did the same. "Why do I feel like I'm in a horror movie?"

Chuckling, they each shrugged, though Ant did his best impression of a ghost. It wasn't very good but reminded him of an episode of Scooby-Doo that he'd seen at a friend's house when he was in kindergarten—which subsequently caused his parents to cut off contact with that family. Ghosts were demons, according to their Christian beliefs, and were not something to be viewed as fun or entertaining. Their family's pastor spent hours speaking with five-year-old Jamison, making sure he "understood" that non-Christians, or even bad Christians, would show him things that were made by Satan, and that he had to reject those things, and those people if he wanted to be able to go to heaven. Otherwise, Satan would come and take him to hell when he wasn't expecting it. It had properly terrified him which the pastor and his family took as a good thing.

"Would that make you all ghosts or would that mean you just hang out with one?" Smirking, he watched as a smile broke across their faces.

"You're gonna fit right in," Sam said, giving him a wave. "I'm Sam."

"And I'm Vera," she interjected, turning and smiling up at him. Even with the extra height from her boots, she still didn't reach higher than his chin. "Sorry that we decided to ambush you, but Elliot said that you've been on the fence about whether you'd join us tonight."

"And he's recruited all of you to try and convince me?" Looking at Elliot, he smirked a little. While it wasn't desperation, it wasn't the confident Elliot he was used to, which intrigued him.

"Would that be so bad?" Elliot asked, exhaling lightly.

"Yeah, you could do a lot worse, you know." Vera smiled and shook her cigarette a little, making the ash fall off the tip. It was unclear if she was referring to Elliot or the friend group as a whole.