I had to leave the wrist pad in the basement.

  It was close enough to a watch that I could pass it off as one, but it was exotic enough that it was going to draw attention. The next few days I spent most of my time running around the edge of the property when I wasn’t practicing sword forms out in the yard. The basement was spacious, but there was a freedom to being out in the yard behind the privacy of the wooden fence.

  By Wednesday, I was feeling more confident in my chances of not embarrassing myself on Saturday. I lowered the purple short sword, letting the tip stick in the dirt as I walked over to the swingset that I’d used when I was a kid. I’d left my water bottle at the top of the slide and I popped the top, taking a long drink of the ice water.

  “Nolan Lawerence. How dare you come back to town and not tell me!”

  I flinched as my mind scrambled to put a name to the feminine voice. I turned around to see a blonde woman my age holding a stick in her hand. There was an apple tree by the fence that I’d climbed with the neighbor girl since the branches dangled over onto her parent’s property. I blinked as I compared the last memory I had of my childhood playmate with the attractive woman in front of me.

  “Leen?” I regretted using her nickname. There was nothing lean about the athletic legs on full display because of her jean shorts. When I’d left, she’d been eight and nothing but knees and elbows, but puberty had treated her right, gracing her with an endowment that her tight t-shirt did little to hide.

  “That’s all you have to say to me?” Colleen River raised the stick in her hand as she stormed over to me. “Huh, Lawless?”

  I raised my hand, catching the stick as she swung it at my head. There wasn’t much force put in that swing, making it easy to guide it to the left of my body. I stepped forward, catching her left fist with my right hand, only to find myself falling backwards as she hooked her ankle around my legs and pulled them out from under me.

  She rode me to the ground, struggling to get her hands free. She tried to leverage her weight to keep me pinned, but she might have weighed 120 pounds and was over a hundred pounds heavier. All it took was for me to twist my hips and roll and I had her pinned on the ground.

  “Not so easy now that we’re grown up?” I grinned as I looked down at her flustered face.

  “Fine, you win.” She glared at me, but it was hard to take the look seriously with the hint of a smile on her face. “Get off me, you overgrown ape.”

  I let her go and stood up, then offered her my hand. She took it and let me help her up.

  “I didn’t even think to see if you still lived next door.” I swallowed as she dusted herself off. She’d been my first crush when I was little and seeing her acting like the tomboy she’d been back then brought the embers of that crush back to life. I was extra thankful that I wasn’t wearing the wristpad now. Mainly because I didn’t want my grandfather’s pervy voice in my head encouraging me to do things with her that I’d rather not get his input on.

  “Dad never moved even after Mom left.” She sighed. “I’ve stuck around to help take care of him. He had a nasty accident a couple years ago and he can’t get around like he used to.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t know.” I swallowed. “About either thing.” I looked down at my feet. “I didn’t really keep in touch with Grandpa.”

  “Yet he gave you this place.” She picked up the stick and slashed it through the air. “Shows he still cared, I guess.”

  “I guess.” I took a deep breath. “So how have you been? If you stayed here, I’m guessing you didn’t go to art school?”

  “School costs money and since Dad can’t work, someone has to pay the bills.” She tapped the handle of the sword. “What’re you doing with Grandpa’s sword?”

  “I thought it’d be cool to learn how to use it.” I walked over to where I’d left the blade in the ground.

  “By yourself?” She shook her head. “You’re going to cut your arm off just slicing that around.”

  “Like you know how to do any better.” I teased as I reached for the sword.

  Leen grabbed it first, tossing her stick to me, and then she twisted around the lawn. It was like watching a performer on stage. I didn’t know much about form, but watching her move was a thing of beauty.

  “How’d you learn how to do that?” I put the stick behind my neck and hung the crooks of my elbows on the ends.

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  “Cheer, color guard, all-state fencing champion, and a black belt.” She winked at me as she walked back over to where I was standing.

  I realized my mouth was open when she touched my chin with two fingers and closed it for me. “You let me win earlier.”

  She shrugged as she offered me the sword, handle first. “I figured you could use the win.” She winked. “Since you’ve been working so hard fighting all those imaginary bad guys.”

  “Are you offering to teach me?” I challenged her as I offered her the stick back.

  “Now?” She pulled out her phone and checked the time. “Sorry, I’ve got to get ready for work.” She rolled her pretty brown eyes at me as she flicked her blonde ponytail over her shoulder. “Not everyone inherits a fortune from their grandpa so they can play with swords in the yard all day!”

  “I…” For a moment, I thought about telling her everything. She was my oldest friend and I thought she’d hate me because we moved away and I lost touch with her. But I could already hear my grandfather complaining about how I didn’t even last a week with a secret that he’d kept his entire life. “Sorry.”

  “Nothing to be sorry about, Lawless.” She punched me in the arm. “I’ll come by earlier tomorrow and give you some pointers!” She hurried over to the apple tree and scrambled up its branches. She stopped after she swung a leg over the top of the wooden fence and gave me a two-finger salute, then vaulted over before I could respond.

  I chuckled as I took the sword and my water bottle inside. As soon as the door shut, my grandfather appeared in front of me.

  “She’s trouble.” He grumbled.

  “Really? I would have thought you’d be all about me connecting with her.” I put the sword on the kitchen table and put my water bottle in the refrigerator.

  “Sleep with her if you want, but Earth girls are big on monogamy.” He shook his head. “Don’t make the same mistake I did.”

  “I thought you and Grandma were happy.” I walked into the living room and dropped onto the couch.

  “You should take a shower before you sit on the furniture.” The hologram grumbled. “And yes, I was happy with Margret, but think about how happy I could have been with three or four beautiful women taking care of me.” His voice drifted as he thought about it. He shook his head as the hologram came back to the present. “Take my advice, bed her if you want, but don’t let it get closer than that.”

  “I’m not going to bed someone I’m not planning on having a relationship with.” I cleared my throat. “Besides, would monogamy really be a bad thing?”

  “You wound me!” He gripped his heart. “My one chance to live vicariously through my own kin, thwarted by the ideals of your mother!”

  “Quit being dramatic.” I shooed him with my hand. “I don’t even know if she likes me like that.”

  “The girl literally jumped you.” He scowled. “I’m dead and even I could feel the attraction from in here.”

  “Well, there’s a lot of stuff that could happen.” I leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes. “Besides, I need to focus on the game on Saturday. She’ll still be there after I win.”

  “That confident, are you?” He teased.

  I opened one eye to glare at him. “Two seconds ago you were talking about how she was throwing herself at me and now you’re questioning whether she wants me?” I shook my head. “You need to pick a lane.”

  “I’m in the ‘she’s going to mess up our plan’ lane.” He threw up his hands. “At least see what’s all out there in the universe before you settle for a Human girl like any other man on this planet.”

  “What if I want a Human girl?” I opened the other eye. “What if I’m just some boring guy with vanilla tastes?”

  “You’re not.” He snapped. “You can try to deny it all you want, but I’ve been in your head and I know exactly how attractive you thought the women on Rashka were.” A smile crossed his face. “That was like 1% of all the races out there. Think of the possibilities!”

  “Whatever.” I sat up. “I’m going to go for a run.”

  “Don’t stay out too long.” He tapped his wrist. “Overtraining is a thing and we don’t need you injuring yourself before Saturday.”

  “I’m not going to be running that hard.” I stopped at the front door. “Do you really think I can do this?” I motioned at the floor. “Be a runner?”

  “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders and lightning in your feet.” He smiled. “And you’re my grandson; you’re going to be the next great runner, I guarantee it!”

  I lightly pounded on the doorframe as I went out into the yard. I had to smile as I realized that I had used the blessing he’d taught me out of habit. When I was younger, he’d told me to always knock twice before leaving the house for luck. It wasn’t something I did every time, but sometimes I did it without thinking about it and it would remind me of Grandpa.

  The trail through the woods behind the house was wide enough that you could drive an ATV down it. I knew Grandpa used to take the riding lawnmower down the trail a couple times a year to cut down on the grass so that the ATV didn’t scuff out. Judging by how the trail through the woods was still kept up, it seemed like Grandpa had stuck to his routine all those years I’d been gone.

  I need to go out to the mower shed and check on those things. I paused on the trail and looked back up at the house. I hadn’t been to the mower shed or the shop yet, even though I’d been here for five days. Training had consumed me and I remembered that I’d wanted to ask the hologram about the locked rooms, but I’d always forgotten when I’d had a break.

  It’ll still be there next week. I turned back down the trail and took off at a brisk jog. That seemed to be becoming a motto, but just thinking about the game this weekend added an extra umph in my stride.

  A smile crossed my face as I remembered that Lean was going to come by in the morning. There was a lot I wanted to do before she came over, like finding some wooden training sticks and maybe having something prepared so I could offer her lunch or at least a snack before she went to work.

  I began making a list of things I wanted to do as well as counterarguments as to why this wasn’t a date. I had a feeling Grandpa was going to give me grief about it, but if Leen was as good as she said she was, then it would only help my training that much more.

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