Raise the Curtain (Jared/Jensen/Jake Abel, NC-17). For siiy.
Title: Raise the Curtain
Pairing: Jared/Jensen/Jake Abel
Genre: AU, college/high school
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~4750
Warnings: Jake is a senior in high school; his precise age is not given, but he can be assumed to be seventeen or eighteen. Threesome. Exhibitionism, voyeurism.
Enticements: Toppy!Jensen. :DDD
Disclaimer: This is entirely untrue and has no socially redeeming value. No disrespect is intended toward the real people whose names and images I've used here.
A/N: This is the second fic I've written for spnthreesome, and when I finished the first one, I was like, "yay! done with this!". But when the plea for pinch hitters came out and I saw these prompts, I was like "holy shit, these prompts are AWESOME. And the person who made them must also be AWESOME. They deserve a fic!" I'm really sorry it ended up taking so long - I had some ~personal problems, and then my computer decided to commit suicide. ;_;
Major thanks go to my betas, belleweather and kazie_oh. ♥
Summary: Written for siiy's prompt: AU with Jensen and Jared in college and Jake being in high school and the neighbour from either Jensen or Jared who spies on them making out and gets caught and then Jensen and Jared try to get Jake to join them. Some liberties were taken, but I hope you like it!
It isn’t totally innocent, having the bed next to the window.
A couple of people have commented on it, the possibility that someone could look inside at an inopportune moment. Jared just airily explains that he does a lot of studying in bed, and he likes to be by a window when he studies. It’s good for the brain, or the eyes or something. He read it somewhere. There’s a curtain, off-white and heavy, so it can be totally private whenever they like. Plus, it’s not like the window is even all that huge - most of the bed is lined up against plain old ordinary white walls.
Jensen doesn’t say anything to that, just grins a bit. Jared knows it’s because Jensen has a wicked and sharp sense of humor, and he knows what’s true, and what’s not. What’s true is that Jared does like to study in bed, his books and notebooks and computer all spread around him on the bedspread.
It started when they first moved into the apartment. They’d been together for a year and a half by the time junior year rolled around, and had completely had it with fucking dorm life. Jensen had had a single during their sophomore year which was the only thing that made life bearable at all, but it still had one of those shitty little twin beds and the thin walls and dumbasses trying to be “ironic” by playing Vanilla Ice at 2 am.
So for their junior year, they had found an apartment. It wasn’t particularly special or interesting, but it was theirs and they could walk around naked and have sex in the living room and smoke pot and basically do all the fun shit it was hard to do in a dorm.
They’d put the bed - brand new, but from IKEA, so not that expensive - against the window, which overlooked a small courtyard and had a clear view into the nearly identical apartment building across the way, without a great deal of thought. It fit there and it seemed like a good idea. Before they even had the sheets on, Jensen was pushing Jared back against the bed, pressing Jared’s back up against the window and climbing in between Jared’s legs.
“Holy shit,” Jared had said, laughing. “Way to surprise a guy.”
“It’s our own place, Jay,” Jensen had growled in that deep rumbling voice that always got Jared going from zero to sixty in no time flat. “We fucking live together, can you believe it? You’re lucky I waited this long. Wanted to throw you down on the rug in the living room and just fuck you there.” He leaned in, sucking at the long line of Jared’s neck.
“Glad you didn’t,” Jared had gasped at him. “Rug burn isn’t sexy.”
“Oh, I’d make it sexy,” Jensen had promised, tugging Jared’s shirt over his head. Even on a hot late August evening, the glass was cool against Jared’s back, and maybe he should have thought about what that meant, but it’s hard to think about minor issues like privacy when your smoking hot boyfriend is biting and licking at the curve of your neck while tugging your jeans open.
“I don’t even know what that means,” Jared had said. Or rather, he’d tried to say it, but the words had been swallowed by Jensen’s fierce kisses. And then nearly all rational thought had fled when Jensen had pulled out Jared’s dick and began to work it roughly. Hey, it had been pretty celibate summer, and phone sex didn’t even come close to the real thing.
Jared had been nearly incoherent, his head lolling to the side, when Jensen had pushed up onto his knees to whisper in Jared’s ear, his hand never slowing down.
“You know they could see us, right?” Jensen had breathed. “There’s no one there now. But if there was, they’d see. How hot you are, how gorgeous you are when you come for me. Everyone would see, Jared.”
And Jared had come right then, surprising both of them. His head had banged against the glass, but it barely registered.
“Someone’s got an exhibitionism kink,” Jensen had sung at him with a grin when Jared was able to focus his eyes again. Jared had flushed, but didn’t say anything, just grinned back. Jensen rolled over onto his back and started to undo his own jeans.
“Come on, Jared,” he’d said, pulling him over. “Blow me. Right here. Let them see.”
Jared didn’t need to be told twice.
In the end, the curtain that they’d subsequently bought ended up not being used quite as much as most of their friends figured.
::
Of course, it doesn’t always happen like that. They have sex in the living room a lot, because makeout sessions in front of the TV have a tendency to escalate. And they take to keeping lube in a drawer in the kitchen after Jensen determines that the counters are just the right height for bending Jared over. Plus, most of the time they have sex in bed, it’s at night, in the dark, and no one can see them.
Jared likes to imagine they can, though.
Even then, Jared is pretty sure they’ve never been spotted. The courtyard isn’t much to speak of, and hardly anyone ever uses it, especially because there’s a nice park just a couple blocks away that’s much better for lounging outside. Also, the way the fire escape is angled, it would be difficult to see in from ground level - one would have to be in the opposing building, at just the right angle. And they’d have to look at just the right moment. Jared figures the odds are pretty slim that someone has actually seen them.
That is, until the kid across the way says “hi” to him one morning in November.
Jared has noticed the kid before. He’s probably about sixteen or seventeen and just totally adorable, with big blue eyes and messy hair about the same light brown as Jensen’s. He lives in the apartment building on the other side of the courtyard - Jared saw him walk out the front door one time - but he has no clue which apartment is his.
Jared is at the front door to his apartment building, fumbling in his backpack for his key when the kid across the way walks by. Jared doesn’t miss the way he looks up and down his body, and then up. At the window to Jared and Jensen’s living room.
Then the kid looks back at him. He grins and Jared’s hand freezes.
“Hi,” he says, stretching out the vowel so that the word has at least two syllables. He quirks one side of his mouth higher than the other side, lifts an eyebrows like he knows something, and then he’s gone.
Jared finds his key and plods slowly up the three flights of stairs, thinking. Jesus Christ, that kid definitely saw them.
He thinks he should be embarrassed, probably, but he isn’t - someone saw him and Jensen? Jared wonders if from that distance the kid can see how gorgeous Jensen is, how he tugs at Jared’s hair when he fucks his mouth. How much Jared loves it. And there’s no way he could hear them - Jensen’s dirty talk, his own encouraging whispers. Or smell the mixture of ivory soap and aftershave and sweat and come. Really, it’s just unfortunate for the kid, getting such a small peek into what’s between the two of them.
By the time he reaches his own door, he’s blindingly hard.
Fortunately, Jensen is already there, watching TV and eating a sandwich. Jared doesn’t even say anything, just drops his bag on the ground and climbs onto the couch, straddles Jensen, and begins dropping a trail of kisses around his neck.
“Um, hey, babe,” Jensen says, laughing a bit. “It’s nice to see you too - fuck,” he adds with a gasp, as Jared bites down on Jensen’s shoulder.
“You know that kid in the apartment across the way?” Jared asks, licking at the bite mark.
“He cute?” Jensen asks. Jared bites his shoulder again, harder this time.
“Yeah,” Jared says, honestly.
“Cuter than me?” Jensen asks with a grin.
Jared just laughs and shakes his head.
“Nah, I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Jensen is wearing silky black soccer shorts and already has them down, his cock nearly fully hard. He’s messing with the fastening on Jared’s jeans and having trouble with the button fly.
“He saw us, Jen. Pretty sure he saw us.” Jared feels the blood rushing in his ears, heating his skin. “Fuck, can you imagine?”
Jensen’s mouth drops open and Jared leans in to kiss him, sucking at his lip.
“He saw me fucking you?” Jensen asks. He’s got Jared’s jeans figured out and shoves them down, holding onto his ass and pulling Jared against him. Their dicks press together and Jensen lets out a gasp.
Jared nods, his eyelashes fluttering. “I think so. The way he looked at me, I’m sure-”
“And it gets you hot?” Jensen interrupts, his voice low and gravely. “Jesus, Jared.”
“Fuck me, Jensen. Please, Jen.” Jared’s voice comes out as whiny and desperate but it’s hard to give a shit when he can feel how turned on Jensen is. “Please?”
“Love hearing you beg,” Jensen tells him. He grins and reaches up to brush a lock of Jared’s hair out of his eyes.
“Love you,” Jared says. “Fuck me, okay?”
And Jensen does.
::
After that, Jared starts to see the kid everywhere. He isn’t sure if it’s a case of him actually being around more, or if he was always around this much and Jared just never noticed before. The kid - well, he isn’t exactly a kid, he’s only a couple years younger than Jared and Jensen, but he’s in high school, and that’s like a kid if you’re in college - doesn’t seem embarrassed or angry to see Jared. He just grins and waves, real friendly.
“Can I bum a cigarette offa you?” the kid asks Jared one day, as they’re waiting for the light at the corner to turn green.
“Uh, no, sorry, don’t smoke,” Jared says, a little guardedly.
“Oh, yeah, it’s pretty gross, me neither,” the kid says. “I’m Jake, by the way. I live in the building opposite you. On the other side of the courtyard.”
“Yeah,” Jared says, a little confused. Jake raises his eyebrows. “I mean, hey. I’m Jared. Nice to meet you.”
The light turn greens and they walk across the street. Not together, but almost.
“You live with your boyfriend, right?”
Jared flushes a little, thinking about how Jake knows this.
“Uh huh,” he says, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Cool,” Jake says. He looks like he might want to say something else, but when they reach the other corner, he turns, and then looks around for Jared.
“I’m, um, going this way,” Jared says, gesturing down the street.
“Oh. See you later.” Jake bends down to untie and retie a shoelace that already looks pretty securely tied. Jared takes one glance at his ass - not bad - and continues on his way.
::
A few days later, Jared’s running in the park near the apartment when he spots Jake on a picnic bench. He’s reading a book and listening to his iPod, but he still manages to look up and wave and grin as Jared jogs by.
::
They’re standing on the corner opposite Jared’s apartment building - the one where Jared watched Jake pretend to tie his shoe a couple of weeks prior. Jake has his earbuds in but Jared realizes he’s not listening to anything when he asks: “are your parents cool with you living with your boyfriend?”
“They don’t love it,” Jared says, digging his hands in the kangaroo pouch of his sweatshirt. “They swear it’s not the gay thing, they just think we’re too young to be living together. But my rent comes from financial aid, not from them, so it’s not like they can actually stop me. And they like Jensen.”
“He’s really hot,” Jake ventures.
Jared looks down at him. “Yeah,” he says. “He is.”
“Could you tell I’m into guys?” Jake asks, looking at his feet.
“I was beginning to suspect it,” Jared says, not bothering to keep the amusement out of his voice. “You should stalk with a little more subtlety next time, though.”
Jake flushes red. They light changes and they cross the street.
“I…I’m bi, I guess,” he mumbles. “Nobody knows. My mom would be okay with it, I think, but my dad would freak out. It was just. I knew you have a boyfriend. I was just…curious, I guess.”
“You’re still in high school, right?” Jared asks.
“Yeah,” Jake says. “Senior. ”
“High school fucking sucks,” Jared says. “But next year you’ll be in college, and man, it’ll be so much better, trust me.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” Jake says. “I’ve dated girls, and that’s cool, but I’ve never even really done anything with a guy.”
They’re at the corner, and Jared leans left, toward his own building. Jake turns to go straight, toward his own front door.
“I hope I can find someone as hot as your boyfriend,” he says over his shoulder, as he walks away.
“Good luck,” Jared says with a laugh, because come on. Jared’s a little biased, sure, but Jensen is hotter than like, everybody.
“Or you,” Jake calls back. He’s half the way down the block, but when he turns to grin, Jared is pretty sure Jake isn’t kidding.
“I think the cute neighbor kid just hit on me,” he tells Jensen when he gets in.
Jensen is leaning back against the kitchen counter, holding a glass of orange juice in his right hand and the script for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which the drama department is putting on. Jensen is playing Hamlet, which, he is quick to assure people, is not nearly as big a deal as playing Hamlet in Hamlet.
“Should I be jealous?” Jensen asks. “How old is this cute neighbor kid, anyway?”
“No,” Jared tells him. “And seventeen or eighteen, I guess. He said he was a senior in high school.”
“What if I feel like being jealous anyway?” Jensen says, putting the orange juice down. “This is the kid who’s seen you naked, right?”
“Through a window, yeah.” Jared picks up the orange juice and drinks it. Jensen looks annoyed. “And he’s seen you too. He told me he hopes he finds a boyfriend as hot as you in college.”
“He has good taste,” Jensen says. He latches on to Jared’s collar, tugs him down for a sticky and orange-flavored kiss.
“Your lack of modesty is such a turn-on,” Jared says dryly against his boyfriend’s lips. Jensen just laughs, and pushes Jared up against the counter.
“Too bad he has to watch through the window,” Jensen says. Then he pauses, like he’s been seized by a thought.
“What?” Jared asks, running his hands around Jensen’s waist and down to his ass.
“He doesn’t have to watch through the window.”
::
Jared is apprehensive at first, but he knows he’ll go along with Jensen in the end - he knows from experience that Jensen’s ideas nearly invariably turn out to be awesome, even if they sound insane at first. But he refuses to be the one to extend the offer to Jake.
“But you know the guy,” Jensen says. “I don’t.”
Jared shrugs. “This is your idea, you get to be the propositioner.”
“That’s not a word,” Jensen grumbles. “You want me to go up to this guy and say ‘hey, I’m Jensen, you want to come watch my boyfriend and me have sex’?”
“You don’t have to introduce yourself, he already knows who you are.”
Jensen frowns and wanders off.
::
Jared doesn’t know exactly how Jensen does it, but a few days later, he comes into the bedroom, where Jared is working on a bio problem set, and throws his hands up in a touchdown sign.
“Hm?” Jared asks, barely looking up.
“We have a date on Friday night,” Jensen says triumphantly.
“Okay,” Jared says.
“With Jake,” Jensen adds.
“Oh. Oh. Really?”
Jensen nods and climbs onto the bed. He crawls toward Jared, ignoring the neatly arranged piles of notes and handouts.
“You’re messing up my shit!” Jared protests weakly. “This problem set is due tomorrow, Jen, and I have a lot to do, so-”
His protests are cut off by Jensen’s lips pressing up against his own, and when Jensen shoves his hand down the front of Jared’s sweatpants, he forgets what he was protesting in the first place.
“Do we fuck on the first date?” Jared asks later, after Jensen has both given him an amazing blow job and destroyed his bio notes.
“Babe, we fucked before our first date.” Jensen says, amused.
“Yeah, but I don’t want...I only want you, Jen. Only you can fuck me.”
“Well, obviously,” Jensen says. “But what about blowjobs and handjobs?”
::
Jared is nervously channel surfing between CNN and an episode of CSI that he’s already seen when Jake shows up on Friday night at 8:05. Jared suspects the five minute tardiness is intentional; Jake’s apprehension is obvious.
“You want some chips and salsa? A soda?” Jared offers, leading Jake into the living room. “Jensen’ll be here soon, he got held up with some stuff at work.”
“No thanks,” Jake says. He sits down in the chair Jared and Jensen hauled from the Salvation Army, and begins bouncing his leg. “Not really hungry.”
They sit silently. Jared tries to think of something clever to break the silence. He wishes Jensen were there - Jensen would know what to say.
“Do you know where you’re going to college yet?” he finally asks. Which probably isn’t what Jensen would have said, but it works.
“I’m gonna go here, actually,” Jake says. “But I’m moving out - a couple of my friends and I are going to get a place.”
“Cool,” Jared says, nodding. “What do you want to study?”
Jake tells him he’s thinking about studying geology, and Jared took an intro to geology class a couple semesters ago and liked it. It’s just a few minutes and they’re talking freely, like they’ve forgotten why they’re even there. But Jared hasn’t forgotten.
The sound of the key in the door momentarily freezes the conversation.
“Oh, did I interrupt something?” Jensen asks from the doorway. “Don’t mind me.” He drops his backpack on the ground and makes his way around the coffee table to sit next to Jared on the couch.
“What’s up, Jake?” Jensen asks, casually placing a hand on Jared’s knee. Jared finds himself unable to pull his gaze away from Jensen, who is looking over at Jake with casual interest.
“Not too much,” he hears Jake say.
“Hi Jen,” Jared finally says. Jensen turns his head to face Jared. His hair is mussed and is sticking up at odd angles, and there’s a smudge of black ink on his left cheekbone. He smiles.
“Love you,” Jared says in a low voice.
“Love you too, babe,” Jensen whispers directly into Jared’s left ear, his breath hot against his skin. He leans in to kiss Jared.
The kiss is soft at first. Jared can’t forget that Jake is there, and it’s a little…weird. Jensen pulls at Jared’s belt loop, and Jared knows what he wants - he swings his leg over, so that he’s straddling Jensen’s lap. Jensen pushes his fingers through Jared’s hair and uses the grip to pull Jared closer, holds him there as the kiss intensifies.
It’s just a slight noise, something like a whimper, that reminds Jared that Jake is even there. Jensen pulls away to speak.
“You want to see me fuck Jared, Jake?” He grins. “Up close, I mean?”
“Holy shit yes.” The words tumble out of Jake’s mouth and Jared looks over at him. His face is flushed red and the baggy jeans do nothing to hide his obvious erection. The weirdness he’d felt earlier seems to have melted away - and seeing Jake there, breathing hard, turned on by him and Jensen, is suddenly nothing but really, really hot.
Jared slides off of Jensen’s lap and grabs Jensen’s hand, not caring that his own erection is pretty obvious. He leads Jensen to the bedroom, past a gaping Jake.
“You coming?” Jensen asks. Jake scrambles to his feet and follows them.
There isn’t really a good place to sit down in the bedroom, so Jake sits rather gingerly at the end of the bed as Jared and Jensen pull off their clothes. Jared gets naked first, and Jensen falls to the bed, still wearing his boxer briefs, facing the end of the bed, where Jake is. He rolls over onto his side and props his head up on his hand. His right foot rests on the pillow, the toes on his left bouncing gently against the window.
“He’s really hot, huh?” Jensen says to Jake in a conversational tone. Jared feels like he’s on display as Jake pauses. Jared knows he has a good body - he works hard enough for it - but it’s not like people see him naked all the time. And they don’t usually do what Jake is doing now, studying him like he’s something special. Only Jensen does that.
Equal parts embarrassed and turn on by the scrutiny, Jared can feel his ears heating up. He climbs onto the bed as well, lying on his front next to Jensen, who starts rubbing Jared’s back with long, slow strokes.
“Yeah,” says Jake, his voice more high-pitched than usual. He clears his throat. “He’s…really fucking hot.”
“First time I saw him, it was in the locker room in the gym. Such a stereotype, right?” He lowers himself onto Jared’s back, laughing. Jared can feel the laughter through the press of skin, and he closes his eyes, enjoying Jensen’s warmth. Jensen runs his hands over Jared’s arms, pins his hands to the bed, and rests his head next to Jared’s. “Figured he was some empty-headed gym rat, walking around with a body like this. But god, I wanted to fuck him. Then he turned out to be a really good guy. Smart and sweet.”
Jensen leans in for a kiss and Jared returns it, gives as good as he’s got, completely conscious of Jake’s eyes on them, imagining how they must look from his vantage point.
“And now I get to fuck you whenever I want, right, Jay?” Jensen grins and in the low light, he’s the most beautiful thing Jared’s ever seen.
“Fuck me now, Jen,” he urges. “Please.”
“Gotta get you ready, Jay,” he says. Jared hums in response. Jensen pulls away for a minute and Jared shivers from the sudden cold. The bed creaks from a slight movement, and Jared turns to look at Jake, who is leaning forward. Jared smiles, consciously trying to push back the nerves and self-consciousness that have been worrying at him, and Jake grins back.
There’s the sudden sensation of lube dripping down his ass and Jared briefly winces at the cold. Jake looks like he wants to ask something, but he stays silent. Jared gasps as Jensen begins to open him up, his finger circling around his hole before pushing in.
“I fingered myself one time,” Jake says suddenly, like it’s an admission. “It was kind of weird.”
“Wait until you get fingered by someone who knows what he’s doing,” Jared says. “Holy shit,” he gasps, as Jensen runs his finger over his prostate. Jensen chuckles, and leans over to kiss Jared’s shoulder, not removing his finger.
“Do you-“ Jake begins, but falls silent as Jensen tugs Jared’s hips up, and angles them both to the left, against the wall next to the bed. Jensen holds Jared’s wrists against the wall and shoves in.
Jared presses his head against the wall and lets out a low moan. There’s the familiar sense of burn giving way to pleasure, the familiar press of Jensen’s chest against his back, and the unfamiliar sight of Jake staring up at him. At them, together. From his angle, they’re in profile and Jared wishes he had a mirror, wishes he could see what Jake sees. Maybe next time they can get Jake to take pictures, or film them. The moan he lets out then is half pleasure and half the idea that this is going to happen again.
Jensen barely even waits until Jared has adjusted before he’s pumping his hips, hard and fast, shoving in and pulling out, grunting with the effort. Jared’s own dick is painfully, achingly hard, but he can’t touch it, and Jensen doesn’t seem eager to get him off either. Jared struggles a bit, but it’s just a show, and he’s rewarded by his efforts when Jensen leans into him harder, holds his arms against the wall with even greater force.
“Take care of him, Jake,” Jensen suddenly says, his voice thick with effort. Jared wishes he could meet Jensen’s eyes from this position. He pushes back against Jensen’s thrusts.
“What?” Jake asks.
“I said, take care of him. Jesus Christ, just jerk him off. You know you to jerk a guy off?”
“Yeah, but-“
Jensen stills his movements. “You want to fuck my boyfriend, don’t you?” He doesn’t sound angry about it.
Jake stares at them, silently. Jared can feel his eyes on them, their weight on his body almost physical. His skin itches with heat and knowing.
“You can’t fuck him,” Jensen says, like he’s laying down the rules. “Only I get to fuck him. But you can jerk him off, while I watch.” He kisses the back of Jared’s neck, and Jared knows he’s asking: are you okay with this? He nods his head. Jensen shoves forward again and Jared leans his head back against Jensen’s neck. And watches Jake reach forward slowly. His hand is shaking.
Jake’s initial movements are slow and hesitant, but Jared is so turned on that he can’t stop himself from bucking his hips up once, before he’s able to still himself.
“Like that,” he mutters, as Jake picks up speed. “God, Jake. Yeah.”
“You’re doing good, Jake,” Jensen gets out, pressing more kisses to the back of Jared’s neck. “You’re doing really good.”
Jared can barely keep his eyes focused, his body burning with too much sensation, with the three hands on his body, with the knowledge that two people are focused on him, focusing all of their attention on him. Jensen’s breathing is audible in his ear, but it doesn’t hide the sound of Jake’s heavy, ragged breath, or the mutters of “oh, god” that Jake can’t seem to stop. It’s the low murmurs that push him over the edge.
“Oh shit, shit,” Jared finally gasps, and comes, shuddering and falling forward against the wall. Jake strokes him through it, and Jensen finally frees Jared’s hands, wrapping his arms around Jared’s torso. He holds Jared up, pumps his hips a few more times, and then he’s coming too, swearing loudly.
“Damn,” Jake says, and then falls silent. There’s the sound of a zipper, and when Jared turns his head, Jake is leaning against the wall along the edge of the bed. He’s jerking off.
“No,” Jared says. His voice is raspy. “Let me.” He turns to look over his shoulder at Jensen, who nods.
Jared hasn’t touched all that many dicks besides Jensen’s and his own, and Jake’s doesn’t feel very different. Hard and smooth and hot. Jake’s eyes are open wide, the vivid blue visible even in the low light.
“Jared is great at handjobs,” Jensen says, deep and gravelly and Jared wonders if maybe they can fuck again after Jake is gone. Jensen’s voice just has that effect on him. “Isn’t he?”
Jake just nods, and before Jared can even say anything, his eyes roll up into his head and he’s coming hard, with a little gasping shout.
::
It’s a couple days later that Jared sees Jake again. He’s coming out of the apartment building with Jensen, and Jake is wandering by the door. Jared would suspect it’s not exactly a coincidence, except for the way he almost trips over his own feet.
“Oh, hey,” Jake manages, catching himself on a tree.
“What’s up?” Jared asks, nonchalantly.
“Hey, Jake,” Jensen says, taking Jared’s hand. “Nice to see you around. The weather sure has been nice, don’t you think? I think we’re going to be keeping our windows open all night.”
Pairing: Jared/Jensen/Jake Abel
Genre: AU, college/high school
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~4750
Warnings: Jake is a senior in high school; his precise age is not given, but he can be assumed to be seventeen or eighteen. Threesome. Exhibitionism, voyeurism.
Enticements: Toppy!Jensen. :DDD
Disclaimer: This is entirely untrue and has no socially redeeming value. No disrespect is intended toward the real people whose names and images I've used here.
A/N: This is the second fic I've written for spnthreesome, and when I finished the first one, I was like, "yay! done with this!". But when the plea for pinch hitters came out and I saw these prompts, I was like "holy shit, these prompts are AWESOME. And the person who made them must also be AWESOME. They deserve a fic!" I'm really sorry it ended up taking so long - I had some ~personal problems, and then my computer decided to commit suicide. ;_;
Major thanks go to my betas, belleweather and kazie_oh. ♥
Summary: Written for siiy's prompt: AU with Jensen and Jared in college and Jake being in high school and the neighbour from either Jensen or Jared who spies on them making out and gets caught and then Jensen and Jared try to get Jake to join them. Some liberties were taken, but I hope you like it!
It isn’t totally innocent, having the bed next to the window.
A couple of people have commented on it, the possibility that someone could look inside at an inopportune moment. Jared just airily explains that he does a lot of studying in bed, and he likes to be by a window when he studies. It’s good for the brain, or the eyes or something. He read it somewhere. There’s a curtain, off-white and heavy, so it can be totally private whenever they like. Plus, it’s not like the window is even all that huge - most of the bed is lined up against plain old ordinary white walls.
Jensen doesn’t say anything to that, just grins a bit. Jared knows it’s because Jensen has a wicked and sharp sense of humor, and he knows what’s true, and what’s not. What’s true is that Jared does like to study in bed, his books and notebooks and computer all spread around him on the bedspread.
It started when they first moved into the apartment. They’d been together for a year and a half by the time junior year rolled around, and had completely had it with fucking dorm life. Jensen had had a single during their sophomore year which was the only thing that made life bearable at all, but it still had one of those shitty little twin beds and the thin walls and dumbasses trying to be “ironic” by playing Vanilla Ice at 2 am.
So for their junior year, they had found an apartment. It wasn’t particularly special or interesting, but it was theirs and they could walk around naked and have sex in the living room and smoke pot and basically do all the fun shit it was hard to do in a dorm.
They’d put the bed - brand new, but from IKEA, so not that expensive - against the window, which overlooked a small courtyard and had a clear view into the nearly identical apartment building across the way, without a great deal of thought. It fit there and it seemed like a good idea. Before they even had the sheets on, Jensen was pushing Jared back against the bed, pressing Jared’s back up against the window and climbing in between Jared’s legs.
“Holy shit,” Jared had said, laughing. “Way to surprise a guy.”
“It’s our own place, Jay,” Jensen had growled in that deep rumbling voice that always got Jared going from zero to sixty in no time flat. “We fucking live together, can you believe it? You’re lucky I waited this long. Wanted to throw you down on the rug in the living room and just fuck you there.” He leaned in, sucking at the long line of Jared’s neck.
“Glad you didn’t,” Jared had gasped at him. “Rug burn isn’t sexy.”
“Oh, I’d make it sexy,” Jensen had promised, tugging Jared’s shirt over his head. Even on a hot late August evening, the glass was cool against Jared’s back, and maybe he should have thought about what that meant, but it’s hard to think about minor issues like privacy when your smoking hot boyfriend is biting and licking at the curve of your neck while tugging your jeans open.
“I don’t even know what that means,” Jared had said. Or rather, he’d tried to say it, but the words had been swallowed by Jensen’s fierce kisses. And then nearly all rational thought had fled when Jensen had pulled out Jared’s dick and began to work it roughly. Hey, it had been pretty celibate summer, and phone sex didn’t even come close to the real thing.
Jared had been nearly incoherent, his head lolling to the side, when Jensen had pushed up onto his knees to whisper in Jared’s ear, his hand never slowing down.
“You know they could see us, right?” Jensen had breathed. “There’s no one there now. But if there was, they’d see. How hot you are, how gorgeous you are when you come for me. Everyone would see, Jared.”
And Jared had come right then, surprising both of them. His head had banged against the glass, but it barely registered.
“Someone’s got an exhibitionism kink,” Jensen had sung at him with a grin when Jared was able to focus his eyes again. Jared had flushed, but didn’t say anything, just grinned back. Jensen rolled over onto his back and started to undo his own jeans.
“Come on, Jared,” he’d said, pulling him over. “Blow me. Right here. Let them see.”
Jared didn’t need to be told twice.
In the end, the curtain that they’d subsequently bought ended up not being used quite as much as most of their friends figured.
::
Of course, it doesn’t always happen like that. They have sex in the living room a lot, because makeout sessions in front of the TV have a tendency to escalate. And they take to keeping lube in a drawer in the kitchen after Jensen determines that the counters are just the right height for bending Jared over. Plus, most of the time they have sex in bed, it’s at night, in the dark, and no one can see them.
Jared likes to imagine they can, though.
Even then, Jared is pretty sure they’ve never been spotted. The courtyard isn’t much to speak of, and hardly anyone ever uses it, especially because there’s a nice park just a couple blocks away that’s much better for lounging outside. Also, the way the fire escape is angled, it would be difficult to see in from ground level - one would have to be in the opposing building, at just the right angle. And they’d have to look at just the right moment. Jared figures the odds are pretty slim that someone has actually seen them.
That is, until the kid across the way says “hi” to him one morning in November.
Jared has noticed the kid before. He’s probably about sixteen or seventeen and just totally adorable, with big blue eyes and messy hair about the same light brown as Jensen’s. He lives in the apartment building on the other side of the courtyard - Jared saw him walk out the front door one time - but he has no clue which apartment is his.
Jared is at the front door to his apartment building, fumbling in his backpack for his key when the kid across the way walks by. Jared doesn’t miss the way he looks up and down his body, and then up. At the window to Jared and Jensen’s living room.
Then the kid looks back at him. He grins and Jared’s hand freezes.
“Hi,” he says, stretching out the vowel so that the word has at least two syllables. He quirks one side of his mouth higher than the other side, lifts an eyebrows like he knows something, and then he’s gone.
Jared finds his key and plods slowly up the three flights of stairs, thinking. Jesus Christ, that kid definitely saw them.
He thinks he should be embarrassed, probably, but he isn’t - someone saw him and Jensen? Jared wonders if from that distance the kid can see how gorgeous Jensen is, how he tugs at Jared’s hair when he fucks his mouth. How much Jared loves it. And there’s no way he could hear them - Jensen’s dirty talk, his own encouraging whispers. Or smell the mixture of ivory soap and aftershave and sweat and come. Really, it’s just unfortunate for the kid, getting such a small peek into what’s between the two of them.
By the time he reaches his own door, he’s blindingly hard.
Fortunately, Jensen is already there, watching TV and eating a sandwich. Jared doesn’t even say anything, just drops his bag on the ground and climbs onto the couch, straddles Jensen, and begins dropping a trail of kisses around his neck.
“Um, hey, babe,” Jensen says, laughing a bit. “It’s nice to see you too - fuck,” he adds with a gasp, as Jared bites down on Jensen’s shoulder.
“You know that kid in the apartment across the way?” Jared asks, licking at the bite mark.
“He cute?” Jensen asks. Jared bites his shoulder again, harder this time.
“Yeah,” Jared says, honestly.
“Cuter than me?” Jensen asks with a grin.
Jared just laughs and shakes his head.
“Nah, I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Jensen is wearing silky black soccer shorts and already has them down, his cock nearly fully hard. He’s messing with the fastening on Jared’s jeans and having trouble with the button fly.
“He saw us, Jen. Pretty sure he saw us.” Jared feels the blood rushing in his ears, heating his skin. “Fuck, can you imagine?”
Jensen’s mouth drops open and Jared leans in to kiss him, sucking at his lip.
“He saw me fucking you?” Jensen asks. He’s got Jared’s jeans figured out and shoves them down, holding onto his ass and pulling Jared against him. Their dicks press together and Jensen lets out a gasp.
Jared nods, his eyelashes fluttering. “I think so. The way he looked at me, I’m sure-”
“And it gets you hot?” Jensen interrupts, his voice low and gravely. “Jesus, Jared.”
“Fuck me, Jensen. Please, Jen.” Jared’s voice comes out as whiny and desperate but it’s hard to give a shit when he can feel how turned on Jensen is. “Please?”
“Love hearing you beg,” Jensen tells him. He grins and reaches up to brush a lock of Jared’s hair out of his eyes.
“Love you,” Jared says. “Fuck me, okay?”
And Jensen does.
::
After that, Jared starts to see the kid everywhere. He isn’t sure if it’s a case of him actually being around more, or if he was always around this much and Jared just never noticed before. The kid - well, he isn’t exactly a kid, he’s only a couple years younger than Jared and Jensen, but he’s in high school, and that’s like a kid if you’re in college - doesn’t seem embarrassed or angry to see Jared. He just grins and waves, real friendly.
“Can I bum a cigarette offa you?” the kid asks Jared one day, as they’re waiting for the light at the corner to turn green.
“Uh, no, sorry, don’t smoke,” Jared says, a little guardedly.
“Oh, yeah, it’s pretty gross, me neither,” the kid says. “I’m Jake, by the way. I live in the building opposite you. On the other side of the courtyard.”
“Yeah,” Jared says, a little confused. Jake raises his eyebrows. “I mean, hey. I’m Jared. Nice to meet you.”
The light turn greens and they walk across the street. Not together, but almost.
“You live with your boyfriend, right?”
Jared flushes a little, thinking about how Jake knows this.
“Uh huh,” he says, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Cool,” Jake says. He looks like he might want to say something else, but when they reach the other corner, he turns, and then looks around for Jared.
“I’m, um, going this way,” Jared says, gesturing down the street.
“Oh. See you later.” Jake bends down to untie and retie a shoelace that already looks pretty securely tied. Jared takes one glance at his ass - not bad - and continues on his way.
::
A few days later, Jared’s running in the park near the apartment when he spots Jake on a picnic bench. He’s reading a book and listening to his iPod, but he still manages to look up and wave and grin as Jared jogs by.
::
They’re standing on the corner opposite Jared’s apartment building - the one where Jared watched Jake pretend to tie his shoe a couple of weeks prior. Jake has his earbuds in but Jared realizes he’s not listening to anything when he asks: “are your parents cool with you living with your boyfriend?”
“They don’t love it,” Jared says, digging his hands in the kangaroo pouch of his sweatshirt. “They swear it’s not the gay thing, they just think we’re too young to be living together. But my rent comes from financial aid, not from them, so it’s not like they can actually stop me. And they like Jensen.”
“He’s really hot,” Jake ventures.
Jared looks down at him. “Yeah,” he says. “He is.”
“Could you tell I’m into guys?” Jake asks, looking at his feet.
“I was beginning to suspect it,” Jared says, not bothering to keep the amusement out of his voice. “You should stalk with a little more subtlety next time, though.”
Jake flushes red. They light changes and they cross the street.
“I…I’m bi, I guess,” he mumbles. “Nobody knows. My mom would be okay with it, I think, but my dad would freak out. It was just. I knew you have a boyfriend. I was just…curious, I guess.”
“You’re still in high school, right?” Jared asks.
“Yeah,” Jake says. “Senior. ”
“High school fucking sucks,” Jared says. “But next year you’ll be in college, and man, it’ll be so much better, trust me.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” Jake says. “I’ve dated girls, and that’s cool, but I’ve never even really done anything with a guy.”
They’re at the corner, and Jared leans left, toward his own building. Jake turns to go straight, toward his own front door.
“I hope I can find someone as hot as your boyfriend,” he says over his shoulder, as he walks away.
“Good luck,” Jared says with a laugh, because come on. Jared’s a little biased, sure, but Jensen is hotter than like, everybody.
“Or you,” Jake calls back. He’s half the way down the block, but when he turns to grin, Jared is pretty sure Jake isn’t kidding.
“I think the cute neighbor kid just hit on me,” he tells Jensen when he gets in.
Jensen is leaning back against the kitchen counter, holding a glass of orange juice in his right hand and the script for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which the drama department is putting on. Jensen is playing Hamlet, which, he is quick to assure people, is not nearly as big a deal as playing Hamlet in Hamlet.
“Should I be jealous?” Jensen asks. “How old is this cute neighbor kid, anyway?”
“No,” Jared tells him. “And seventeen or eighteen, I guess. He said he was a senior in high school.”
“What if I feel like being jealous anyway?” Jensen says, putting the orange juice down. “This is the kid who’s seen you naked, right?”
“Through a window, yeah.” Jared picks up the orange juice and drinks it. Jensen looks annoyed. “And he’s seen you too. He told me he hopes he finds a boyfriend as hot as you in college.”
“He has good taste,” Jensen says. He latches on to Jared’s collar, tugs him down for a sticky and orange-flavored kiss.
“Your lack of modesty is such a turn-on,” Jared says dryly against his boyfriend’s lips. Jensen just laughs, and pushes Jared up against the counter.
“Too bad he has to watch through the window,” Jensen says. Then he pauses, like he’s been seized by a thought.
“What?” Jared asks, running his hands around Jensen’s waist and down to his ass.
“He doesn’t have to watch through the window.”
::
Jared is apprehensive at first, but he knows he’ll go along with Jensen in the end - he knows from experience that Jensen’s ideas nearly invariably turn out to be awesome, even if they sound insane at first. But he refuses to be the one to extend the offer to Jake.
“But you know the guy,” Jensen says. “I don’t.”
Jared shrugs. “This is your idea, you get to be the propositioner.”
“That’s not a word,” Jensen grumbles. “You want me to go up to this guy and say ‘hey, I’m Jensen, you want to come watch my boyfriend and me have sex’?”
“You don’t have to introduce yourself, he already knows who you are.”
Jensen frowns and wanders off.
::
Jared doesn’t know exactly how Jensen does it, but a few days later, he comes into the bedroom, where Jared is working on a bio problem set, and throws his hands up in a touchdown sign.
“Hm?” Jared asks, barely looking up.
“We have a date on Friday night,” Jensen says triumphantly.
“Okay,” Jared says.
“With Jake,” Jensen adds.
“Oh. Oh. Really?”
Jensen nods and climbs onto the bed. He crawls toward Jared, ignoring the neatly arranged piles of notes and handouts.
“You’re messing up my shit!” Jared protests weakly. “This problem set is due tomorrow, Jen, and I have a lot to do, so-”
His protests are cut off by Jensen’s lips pressing up against his own, and when Jensen shoves his hand down the front of Jared’s sweatpants, he forgets what he was protesting in the first place.
“Do we fuck on the first date?” Jared asks later, after Jensen has both given him an amazing blow job and destroyed his bio notes.
“Babe, we fucked before our first date.” Jensen says, amused.
“Yeah, but I don’t want...I only want you, Jen. Only you can fuck me.”
“Well, obviously,” Jensen says. “But what about blowjobs and handjobs?”
::
Jared is nervously channel surfing between CNN and an episode of CSI that he’s already seen when Jake shows up on Friday night at 8:05. Jared suspects the five minute tardiness is intentional; Jake’s apprehension is obvious.
“You want some chips and salsa? A soda?” Jared offers, leading Jake into the living room. “Jensen’ll be here soon, he got held up with some stuff at work.”
“No thanks,” Jake says. He sits down in the chair Jared and Jensen hauled from the Salvation Army, and begins bouncing his leg. “Not really hungry.”
They sit silently. Jared tries to think of something clever to break the silence. He wishes Jensen were there - Jensen would know what to say.
“Do you know where you’re going to college yet?” he finally asks. Which probably isn’t what Jensen would have said, but it works.
“I’m gonna go here, actually,” Jake says. “But I’m moving out - a couple of my friends and I are going to get a place.”
“Cool,” Jared says, nodding. “What do you want to study?”
Jake tells him he’s thinking about studying geology, and Jared took an intro to geology class a couple semesters ago and liked it. It’s just a few minutes and they’re talking freely, like they’ve forgotten why they’re even there. But Jared hasn’t forgotten.
The sound of the key in the door momentarily freezes the conversation.
“Oh, did I interrupt something?” Jensen asks from the doorway. “Don’t mind me.” He drops his backpack on the ground and makes his way around the coffee table to sit next to Jared on the couch.
“What’s up, Jake?” Jensen asks, casually placing a hand on Jared’s knee. Jared finds himself unable to pull his gaze away from Jensen, who is looking over at Jake with casual interest.
“Not too much,” he hears Jake say.
“Hi Jen,” Jared finally says. Jensen turns his head to face Jared. His hair is mussed and is sticking up at odd angles, and there’s a smudge of black ink on his left cheekbone. He smiles.
“Love you,” Jared says in a low voice.
“Love you too, babe,” Jensen whispers directly into Jared’s left ear, his breath hot against his skin. He leans in to kiss Jared.
The kiss is soft at first. Jared can’t forget that Jake is there, and it’s a little…weird. Jensen pulls at Jared’s belt loop, and Jared knows what he wants - he swings his leg over, so that he’s straddling Jensen’s lap. Jensen pushes his fingers through Jared’s hair and uses the grip to pull Jared closer, holds him there as the kiss intensifies.
It’s just a slight noise, something like a whimper, that reminds Jared that Jake is even there. Jensen pulls away to speak.
“You want to see me fuck Jared, Jake?” He grins. “Up close, I mean?”
“Holy shit yes.” The words tumble out of Jake’s mouth and Jared looks over at him. His face is flushed red and the baggy jeans do nothing to hide his obvious erection. The weirdness he’d felt earlier seems to have melted away - and seeing Jake there, breathing hard, turned on by him and Jensen, is suddenly nothing but really, really hot.
Jared slides off of Jensen’s lap and grabs Jensen’s hand, not caring that his own erection is pretty obvious. He leads Jensen to the bedroom, past a gaping Jake.
“You coming?” Jensen asks. Jake scrambles to his feet and follows them.
There isn’t really a good place to sit down in the bedroom, so Jake sits rather gingerly at the end of the bed as Jared and Jensen pull off their clothes. Jared gets naked first, and Jensen falls to the bed, still wearing his boxer briefs, facing the end of the bed, where Jake is. He rolls over onto his side and props his head up on his hand. His right foot rests on the pillow, the toes on his left bouncing gently against the window.
“He’s really hot, huh?” Jensen says to Jake in a conversational tone. Jared feels like he’s on display as Jake pauses. Jared knows he has a good body - he works hard enough for it - but it’s not like people see him naked all the time. And they don’t usually do what Jake is doing now, studying him like he’s something special. Only Jensen does that.
Equal parts embarrassed and turn on by the scrutiny, Jared can feel his ears heating up. He climbs onto the bed as well, lying on his front next to Jensen, who starts rubbing Jared’s back with long, slow strokes.
“Yeah,” says Jake, his voice more high-pitched than usual. He clears his throat. “He’s…really fucking hot.”
“First time I saw him, it was in the locker room in the gym. Such a stereotype, right?” He lowers himself onto Jared’s back, laughing. Jared can feel the laughter through the press of skin, and he closes his eyes, enjoying Jensen’s warmth. Jensen runs his hands over Jared’s arms, pins his hands to the bed, and rests his head next to Jared’s. “Figured he was some empty-headed gym rat, walking around with a body like this. But god, I wanted to fuck him. Then he turned out to be a really good guy. Smart and sweet.”
Jensen leans in for a kiss and Jared returns it, gives as good as he’s got, completely conscious of Jake’s eyes on them, imagining how they must look from his vantage point.
“And now I get to fuck you whenever I want, right, Jay?” Jensen grins and in the low light, he’s the most beautiful thing Jared’s ever seen.
“Fuck me now, Jen,” he urges. “Please.”
“Gotta get you ready, Jay,” he says. Jared hums in response. Jensen pulls away for a minute and Jared shivers from the sudden cold. The bed creaks from a slight movement, and Jared turns to look at Jake, who is leaning forward. Jared smiles, consciously trying to push back the nerves and self-consciousness that have been worrying at him, and Jake grins back.
There’s the sudden sensation of lube dripping down his ass and Jared briefly winces at the cold. Jake looks like he wants to ask something, but he stays silent. Jared gasps as Jensen begins to open him up, his finger circling around his hole before pushing in.
“I fingered myself one time,” Jake says suddenly, like it’s an admission. “It was kind of weird.”
“Wait until you get fingered by someone who knows what he’s doing,” Jared says. “Holy shit,” he gasps, as Jensen runs his finger over his prostate. Jensen chuckles, and leans over to kiss Jared’s shoulder, not removing his finger.
“Do you-“ Jake begins, but falls silent as Jensen tugs Jared’s hips up, and angles them both to the left, against the wall next to the bed. Jensen holds Jared’s wrists against the wall and shoves in.
Jared presses his head against the wall and lets out a low moan. There’s the familiar sense of burn giving way to pleasure, the familiar press of Jensen’s chest against his back, and the unfamiliar sight of Jake staring up at him. At them, together. From his angle, they’re in profile and Jared wishes he had a mirror, wishes he could see what Jake sees. Maybe next time they can get Jake to take pictures, or film them. The moan he lets out then is half pleasure and half the idea that this is going to happen again.
Jensen barely even waits until Jared has adjusted before he’s pumping his hips, hard and fast, shoving in and pulling out, grunting with the effort. Jared’s own dick is painfully, achingly hard, but he can’t touch it, and Jensen doesn’t seem eager to get him off either. Jared struggles a bit, but it’s just a show, and he’s rewarded by his efforts when Jensen leans into him harder, holds his arms against the wall with even greater force.
“Take care of him, Jake,” Jensen suddenly says, his voice thick with effort. Jared wishes he could meet Jensen’s eyes from this position. He pushes back against Jensen’s thrusts.
“What?” Jake asks.
“I said, take care of him. Jesus Christ, just jerk him off. You know you to jerk a guy off?”
“Yeah, but-“
Jensen stills his movements. “You want to fuck my boyfriend, don’t you?” He doesn’t sound angry about it.
Jake stares at them, silently. Jared can feel his eyes on them, their weight on his body almost physical. His skin itches with heat and knowing.
“You can’t fuck him,” Jensen says, like he’s laying down the rules. “Only I get to fuck him. But you can jerk him off, while I watch.” He kisses the back of Jared’s neck, and Jared knows he’s asking: are you okay with this? He nods his head. Jensen shoves forward again and Jared leans his head back against Jensen’s neck. And watches Jake reach forward slowly. His hand is shaking.
Jake’s initial movements are slow and hesitant, but Jared is so turned on that he can’t stop himself from bucking his hips up once, before he’s able to still himself.
“Like that,” he mutters, as Jake picks up speed. “God, Jake. Yeah.”
“You’re doing good, Jake,” Jensen gets out, pressing more kisses to the back of Jared’s neck. “You’re doing really good.”
Jared can barely keep his eyes focused, his body burning with too much sensation, with the three hands on his body, with the knowledge that two people are focused on him, focusing all of their attention on him. Jensen’s breathing is audible in his ear, but it doesn’t hide the sound of Jake’s heavy, ragged breath, or the mutters of “oh, god” that Jake can’t seem to stop. It’s the low murmurs that push him over the edge.
“Oh shit, shit,” Jared finally gasps, and comes, shuddering and falling forward against the wall. Jake strokes him through it, and Jensen finally frees Jared’s hands, wrapping his arms around Jared’s torso. He holds Jared up, pumps his hips a few more times, and then he’s coming too, swearing loudly.
“Damn,” Jake says, and then falls silent. There’s the sound of a zipper, and when Jared turns his head, Jake is leaning against the wall along the edge of the bed. He’s jerking off.
“No,” Jared says. His voice is raspy. “Let me.” He turns to look over his shoulder at Jensen, who nods.
Jared hasn’t touched all that many dicks besides Jensen’s and his own, and Jake’s doesn’t feel very different. Hard and smooth and hot. Jake’s eyes are open wide, the vivid blue visible even in the low light.
“Jared is great at handjobs,” Jensen says, deep and gravelly and Jared wonders if maybe they can fuck again after Jake is gone. Jensen’s voice just has that effect on him. “Isn’t he?”
Jake just nods, and before Jared can even say anything, his eyes roll up into his head and he’s coming hard, with a little gasping shout.
::
It’s a couple days later that Jared sees Jake again. He’s coming out of the apartment building with Jensen, and Jake is wandering by the door. Jared would suspect it’s not exactly a coincidence, except for the way he almost trips over his own feet.
“Oh, hey,” Jake manages, catching himself on a tree.
“What’s up?” Jared asks, nonchalantly.
“Hey, Jake,” Jensen says, taking Jared’s hand. “Nice to see you around. The weather sure has been nice, don’t you think? I think we’re going to be keeping our windows open all night.”