Encircle (Colosseum University: Thorwald Crest Book 3) Read online

  “Okay, kinda, now, maybe?” He groaned and let his forehead fall to my chest. “Yes, I think so. I didn’t mean it like that, I swear. You’re always so busy with my bullshit and taking on stuff with school and studies that I didn’t want to dump more on you when I knew you’d be okay with it. I can handle some things on my own without dragging you into it.”

  I paused and let that one sink in. “Idiot. You did it with the wrong stuff. I don’t need to be involved in everything with Micah. I should step in when it’s about me becoming your manager if you don’t simply plan to order me to do it.”

  “Don’t you want to?” His head snapped up, and the hurt on his face actually made my chest ache. “Why wouldn’t you want to be?”

  “I don’t not want to be,” I admitted and then sighed. “Taking care of you and managing your career are two very different responsibilities, Joost. Being your manager has a lot more pressure, and I don’t know if I’d even be any good at it. I’ve barely slept since you blurted that out because I’m panicking that in about seven months, everything will be in my hands.” He frowned, and I wasn’t sure what else to say. “I would have taken different business and more marketing classes. My whole schooling and education program would have shifted.”

  “Oh, that—well, yeah, that does make sense. Shit. My bad.” Then his frown deepened. “You’re not graduating this year though. There’s still time.”

  “You are though.” Then I blinked up at him. “Aren’t I done with school when you are? You said your contracts are up when you graduate.”

  “Okay, okay, point made. We need to talk about that, and we will in depth later, I promise. Let’s get back to an overview of all the issues, yeah? What else is bugging you? The kid thing?”

  “No, well, maybe me not knowing that’s what you wanted when you say we’re best friends. I would have thought that would be best friend knowledge.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Do you want kids? You’ve never told me either.”

  “Never thought about it.” He smirked, but I wasn’t done. “But you did, so not telling me when I’ll probably be changing all the diapers is cruel.” He winced and nodded. Good, I was getting through for once. “But no, I didn’t ever think on kids because, well, I have no examples of what a parent should be, so I doubt I should be one.”

  Joost snorting. “I’m planning to do the opposite of what my parents did. That’s my firm plan.” Then he smiled gently. “Plus, I’ll have you helping me, and I know you’d make an awesome parent. Hell, you practically raised me.”

  “If I had raised you, you wouldn’t miss deadlines and make me stress so much. I’m going bald from stress, Joost.”

  “Okay, okay. What else? Are you still going to dodge about the lessons thing or—”

  “Lessons are fine. Lessons are welcome.” I met his gaze head-on and let him see the seriousness of how I felt. “Bullying me or trying to use that as a release for your anger isn’t. You wanted my first time getting a guy naked and learning hot spots to happen while you were pissed and all muddled up? That’s not right, Joost.”

  “No, no it’s not. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that was what I did until after.”

  “You should have apologized then.” Now that he agreed, I did something as rare as his tickle attacks… I pouted. “Not wait for me to bring it up and feel like I’m lecturing, you being a baby as I sit here and whine ‘don’t be mean to the virgin who’s...’” I swallowed loudly and tried to settle my nerves. They didn’t get any better realizing I’d almost finished that with “who’s totally in love with you.”

  Joost cleared his throat. “So what was it you were saying about a reward system?”

  I blinked at him a moment, hurt by his blatant brush off of me. The more it sank in how selfish he was being, asking me to talk but then not addressing it all because he became uncomfortable being called out on his action, I shook in rage. His eyes went wide, and suddenly without a thought other than I wanted to be anywhere other than where he was—I shifted.

  “Hey, you can’t end a conversation with shifting, Carli!” he bitched, trying to snag me before I could dart away now that my hands were free. I knew how to avoid him well in this form, always wanting space when I changed… And Joost wanting to snuggle with his monkey like I was a stuffed animal.

  I flicked him off and headed for the door, reaching it just in time to pull the handle down before he sprang to his feet. Then I flew out of the room, excited for my freedom and to get away from Joost for a while.

  “Oh my gods, so adorable!” someone I didn’t know squealed in a deep voice. I glanced down the hall and saw the full demon security team that was being enveloped into our crest. Six grown, huge men all stared at me as if they wanted to snuggle me and say stupid cutesy things too.

  In my distraction, I made one fatal mistake. I stopped moving.

  “Gotcha!” Joost’s hand grabbed my tail and lifted me up. I bitched and moaned and made every noise I could while flicking him off with my monkey hands. I was sentient of course, so the middle finger was effective no matter how small I got. Joost pulled me closer and hissed in my ear. “If you don’t behave and change back, I’ll let the demons fawn all over. They look like they’d be petters, right?”

  I flinched. I hated being treated like a docile animal at a petting zoo. Gushing was bad too, and when strangers approached me in animal form with excited faces… Yeah, my worst nightmare.

  I gave a quick nod to let him know I accepted his terms and to be prepared. Then I changed back, not surprised when he threw me over his shoulder and turned back to our room.

  “Sorry, guys. We’re in the middle of something. If you catch him, you can pet him next time.”

  “Now that I’ve seen him naked, I want to catch him in that form,” one of the demons muttered, and I felt myself heat up.

  Especially with my naked ass in the air. “Okay, you win, can we go?”

  “Glad you understand you’ve been bad,” Joost ground out, stomping into our room. Then he sat me down on his bed before kicking the door closed. I scooted to the edge to stand but froze at the anger in his eyes when he swung his gaze on me. He took a few deep breaths and held up a hand. “Wait, before you rip into me or give me another lecture I deserve, let me say—I heard you. I really heard you and will think on what you said. I didn’t mean to sound as if I meant to blow you off. I want to digest and sit with it.”

  “Okay, that’s fair, I guess.” I wasn’t really sure if it was, but he planned to take me seriously, so that was a step in a good direction. “So you want to talk about the reward idea?” He slowly nodded, seeming shocked I would let it go and move on. If he needed time, he needed time.

  Better than him not taking things seriously, which was Joost’s default setting.

  “Well, you’ve been unmotivated and—”

  “You won’t leave, right?” he blurted, his eyes going wide after realizing his outburst. “I mean, if I take time to think on things and whatever—you’re not still fuming and thinking about leaving? Yeah?”

  “Leaving? Who’s leaving?”

  Joost sighed heavily and knelt at the edge of the bed, seemingly unaware I was naked as his hands brushed my knees, taking such an awkward position in front of me. Clothes were needed if I was to stay in control. “You’ve been so upset and unhappy, I thought you might leave. I know I’ve been unfocused, but I keep having dreams about you figuring a way to transfer out of the crest, serving someone else, being their monkey, that sleep has been—you know.”

  “I would beat you every day until you stopped being stupid before I’d ever leave and abandon you,” I admitted, happy I had when his spirits lifted. “You’d be lost without me. It would be like ditching a child on the tallest mountain. You would wither and die.”

  “I would. I totally would,” he immediately agreed. Then he laid his head on my knees, giving a happy sigh. “I’m glad you weren’t even thinking of leaving, Carli. I really am. I’ll be more focused now, I promise. So w
hat’s your idea?”

  I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair, thinking back to when I used to do this when he’d written his first book to help him clear the clutter out of his mind. “Get rid of bad story plots,” he would say. I used to love doing it too, but it stopped when I finally realized that my love for Joost wasn’t simply of a friend or loyalty to the one who’d saved me but sexual, deeper than I’d thought even.

  “I’m not sure. Some type of reward or point system so you get back on track and maybe learn better habits that don’t involve me having to harass you all the time.”

  “Like a point a word written and you give me a foot rub for five hundred points?” he asked, smirking up at me.

  “Not points you could so easily rack up, no. And nothing that creates more work for me, you twit.” I thought about it a moment and smiled. “More like if you get through all your writing goals for a work/school week, then your reward is being totally off Saturday morning. Sleep in, watch cartoons, or Netflix marathon, something like that.”

  “I do that now,” he argued, narrowing his eyes at me. “That’s not a reward.”

  “Yes, but me joining you and not yelling at you is better than you doing it through my complaining, right?”

  “Fine, but I want daily rewards too. Like each chapter I write we go get gelato from that place in town?”

  “No, too high a price. You can go soak in the hot tub in the gym for half an hour. Gelato would have to be like signing the promo books without me sitting on you and practically moving your hand myself.”

  “So a point a chapter, not making you hound me for a week is five points, and book signings are seven?”

  “No, yes, yes.” He raised an eyebrow at me, and I smiled. “I know you, Joost. If I say a point a chapter, your chapters will start becoming shorter and shorter. Let’s say ten thousand words. Nice and even number.”

  “Five thousand. My chapters are never that long. Plus, we round up at the end of the book.”

  “Deal. Plus ten points for every finished book.”

  He slowly smiled that mischievous grin only a bedrieger could make. “How many points for outings?”

  “What kind of outings? Depends on the type.”

  “And you say you’re nervous being my manager one day. God, that’s stupid. You don’t miss a thing and negotiate tougher than anyone I ever met,” he huffed.

  It warmed my heart though. Joost could really say something profound and heavy when he didn’t have his head up his ass or oblivious to a situation. I tapped his head and stood after he lifted it. I had been naked with him close too long and my body couldn’t stop reacting.

  “How much is teaching you things?” I flinched as I pulled on my pants, glancing at him over the shoulder. “If this is to keep me motivated and not put stuff on your plate, then I want to have a prize that means I get to force you to have time off. You like when I teach you stuff. Make one of the rewards that you’ll take a half hour and let me teach you something.”

  “Define something.” His eyes flashed annoyance as if I was being obstinate. “I’m not against it, but I don’t want your reward system to be based around me wanting to learn about—”

  “It’s not.” He cleared his throat and plopped on his bed. “The example I had was Minecraft. You always watch me play, but you’ve never stopped to just relax. I caught the way your eyes lit up when you saw the Halloween texture pack was on the board. Stuff like that. I’ll help you with chess. We can do the sex stuff, but more than that.” I nodded, considering it. “I’ll let you pick what you want out of like three options that completely differ. We could have a running list of your suggestions maybe.”

  “Yeah, Okay, I’m up for that.” I hurried over to my notebook I had just for Joost’s affairs and jotted down what we’d agreed to so far. “So far I have one point for every five thousand words, five for a week of me not having to ride your ass, seven for each promo signing you don’t whine about or I have to remind you for, ten for a book finished, and five for each side chapter for completed books.” His eyebrows raised on that one. Joost hated doing free reads on his website.

  Not because he hated giving away chapters, but because of the trouble it caused. People were fickle creatures, and some fans loved going back to the books and getting some side chapter. Others got annoyed that books weren’t updated with new chapters, as if that were always feasible. Others yet were annoyed they had to ever go to his website. And then there were those who got pissy because he worked on old characters and plots instead of moving onto new stuff as they thought he should.

  Lastly, there was his favorite group, those who used the logic that if there was a free chapter, then of course the whole book was up for grabs and posted it. They couldn’t have been more wrong, and with all the options, none of which he really enjoyed in contrast to the group of fans who just enjoyed the extra chapter, he avoided the whole thing. Especially once he did it after Micah persuaded him and we were flooded with demands for other free chapters, updates on a list of characters, along with messages complaining he should have chosen someone different.

  “Five points, huh?” he muttered, questions in his eyes. “That’s a lot better than one point for five thousand. Are you suddenly all about free reads?”

  “If I were your manager, I would say to give it another shot, and I think it’s something important to remind fans you don’t do this just for money.”

  He winced, having been accused of that many, many times since he was reclusive and didn’t go to signings or chat with people on social media. They were completely wrong… He simply wasn’t good with people, and fiction he handled better.

  “Plus, it makes for good signing material if we professionally print them out. So yes, I wouldn’t push or hassle given your reasons are valid, but this is rewarding you for doing things you’re not the best at.”

  “Okay, sure. You didn’t require it,” he muttered, bobbing his head. Joost hated being backed into a corner or forced to do something. Too many years of his family doing just that to him and he practically ran from any chances of it happening. “Five points is good. Are we putting studies in this?”

  “No, you’re here for school, but I will deduct points if you drop the ball or turn in assignments late.”

  “Oh, so there’s punishments in this too.” Joost’s eyes flashed with excitement.

  Ha! I knew if I made this a game he’d be in. Why didn’t I come up with this sooner?

  I studied him a few moments and then smiled. This was perfect! “Yes, points deducted from your total when you misbehave or cause problems for me will be added to my points, which we’ll make a list of things I can cash them in for.”

  “For instance?”

  “Movies,” I blurted. I loved going to the movie theater, but Joost was a homebody and didn’t like leaving the comfort of his stuff and whatnot. He would gladly use the lounge and the big TV, but going amongst crowds killed him.

  Which was why he winced but nodded. “Foot rubs?”

  “Yes, I would love that, you dork.”

  “New clothes?” he challenged. That was a standing point of contention between us. I didn’t like using his money to buy myself clothes, and he threw a fit if I used my own, saying it was his job to provide for me since I took care of him.

  Not exactly telling me he wanted to or he was glad to do it. No, obligation was the factor.

  “All right,” I agreed after a moment of thought. “But you like buying stuff for me that I don’t need, so we make this deal on the honor system that you don’t tank things or play games.”

  “Deal. I honestly think I’ll fuck up enough where you’ll get honest points because I’m in a mood,” he chuckled, shaking his head.

  The next half an hour we went over rules—which we both agreed were subject to change as long as we both concurred on the change. It had been a while since I’d seen Joost so light and carefree, excited even as if this was now a new drive for him.

  But dealing w
ith Joost was tiring most times, and there was a reason for that.

  “What about turning things in early? If there’s the option for me being penalized, then I should get extra for being early, right?”

  “Yes, but how early is early? A few hours before midnight doesn’t count in my book.”

  “Mine either, I do have morals,” he drawled.

  “Yes, but you also like to win.”

  “True, true. Okay, how about at least two days? Extra if it’s a week.”

  “Deal,” I yawned, at about my limit. “An extra point for anything early, not individual chapters but actual due date stuff. Three if it’s extra early as in a week.”

  “This would be awesome if we both did this, but you’re too perfect already. You do everything immediately, don’t make mistakes, and could build a better pyramid alone if you wanted to.” He said it as if it was fact. Like there was no doubt in his mind if I wanted to create a sphinx tomorrow, I could do it. My mouth fell open. Granted, I didn’t drop the ball a lot, but that was more practice and routine than anything, but perfect? No one was perfect.

  It made my heart flare up. Now that we’d resolved some stuff, or at least gotten off my chest and on the table, he was acting weird. Compliments were flowing…

  Almost as if he was flirting. I shook my head to dispel the thought. No way. Joost didn’t flirt with me. Everyone else in the world he was Mr. Flirty with, but with me he was simply Joost. I liked that. It made me feel special.

  Then again, if he was ever seriously flirting, you’d drop to your knees and thank any and all gods.

  “A weekend getaway. I want that as a reward,” Joost declared suddenly, snapping me out of my random thoughts. “And how many points would a weeklong vacation cost?”

  “Vacation?” I blinked at him a moment, hating that his face didn’t give away anything. Joost never took a vacation. “Um, I’m not sure, but if you were turning things in early to take a vacation, then it wouldn’t count as early.”

  “Fair enough. Give me values? Twenty-five gets us a weekend and fifty a week?”