Flinchy Snake

I just purchased my 14 inch red and black corn snake about 3 week ago and it will not let me pick it up. It is my first purchased snake and I don't have much experience with snakes other than ones Ive found around my woods.

Every time I go near it or move while holding it, it flinches and tries to run away. Is there any way to stop this? I want him to be comfortable with me and allow/want me to handle him.

The details:
I feed him 2 pinkies every Friday
He is captive bred by another snake enthusiast, not a company.
I bought him out of a lot of around 8 other snakes, two were striped.
He has 2 hides, lots of coco bedding to lie in. His tank is made of pine wood thats pretty old (maybe 1-2 years) so probably not much olfactory irritation.
The tank is around 74 at night and up to 90 in the day, usually stays at 80-84 in the day though. The cage is 1x3 feet and 2 feet high. He has plenty of space to climb and slither. The cage is homemade by me and is all wood with a glass front and hinged, screened top with a wooden frame to hold the screen. He has never tried to bite me. I handle him about 2 hours a week, spread out over three separate days, on average.

If you need any more info from me, please ask.

He's just afraid. The more you handle him, the calmer he should get. With my tiny babies, I find it disturbs them less the quicker I can capture them and remove them from their viv. If I spent time trying to get them to come to me, they would just get into a panic. For me it works best to know where their usual sleeping spot is, lift the hide and quickly scoop them up before they start running. Then hold close and gently- not dangling over the floor. Baby snakes are just afraid of everything- they don't know what your intentions are. He'll settle down once he discovers he has nothing to fear from you.

Nancy's advice is good. Just keep handling him/her for short periods each day, except of course for 48 hours after a feeding. Some of them gentle down almost immediately. Others take a bit longer, but corn snakes are noted for their good disposition. Once your new addition feels confident that s/he is safe with you, it will relax. In nature, one mistake in judgement about safely often results in death, so the critters are understandably skittish for a while.

Some actually get to a point where you can put a hand in their viv and they'll come to you, but don't try that at this point. Grasp your snake firmly but gently at mid-body. Touching the head or tail is scary for the snake. It may help to remove plants, waterbowl(s), or hides before doing your "snake-scooping." If you end up chasing the snake around the viv, it's stressful for all concerned.

Congrats on joining the hobby & forum. Be patient and perservere in handling. It's worth it!