"St-ig!" Lucy shoved him, but he didn't let go.

"And who are you?" Austin asked, curling an eyebrow up in a way that made Stig want to poke his eyes out.

"Her boyfriend. What's it to you?" Stig said. His arms were wrapped possessively round her now.

Lucy bent her head round and stared at her classmate in disbelief. He nuzzled her ear.

"Go with me on this…okay?" He murmured.

"Why?" She murmured back.

"I'll explain in a minute. But remember the Matt situation?"

Her eyes widened.

Stig grinned at her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Lucy? Are you seriously dating this dick?" Austin asked. "God. I credited you with more taste. Now I can see you're as stupid as the rest of them."

Lucy turned back to him and narrowed her eyes.

"Let me get this straight. You said two sentences to each other, and already you think he's a dick?"

"Um. Yeah. Why…don't you? He's here on a sports scholarship it's written all over him. Why do girls go for brain-dead morons like him?"

Stig waited for Lucy to agree with Austin.

"He's a brain-dead moron with a grade average of A. He deserves to be here on his academic qualifications alone, never mind his skill on the rink. And for the record, his father could probably afford a yacht, but Steven doesn't use it as a pick up line."

Austin looked at her in disgust and then walked away.

"Steven?" Stig said. "Since when the hell have you called me Steven?"

Lucy raised her eyebrows.

"Since when the hell have we started dating and when was it acceptable for you to kiss me?"
Stig realised his arms were still around her and dropped them.

"Since I promised my dad I'd look after you and the first thing you did was let yourself get chatted up by a letch."

"How do you know he's a letch?"

"Because his ex-girlfriend told me she dumped him for dating three girls at the same time – and since I watched him groping one of the other girls in your group."
Lucy made a face. "Ew!"

"Exactly."

"Then I guess I owe you thanks…again."

"S'ok. Maybe you should just come ask my opinion before you consider dating."

"Over my dead body, moron."

He laughed. So did Lucy.

"Did you really call me Steven"

"It's your name, jerk."
"Yeah but only when I'm really bad."

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They sat together at lunch and didn't argue…much.

Lucy was quiet. She was trying not to think about him kissing her or the amused look he had given her afterwards. Or the way his arms had made her heart pound like a cheap romance novel.

The tour resumed with Lucy joining Stig in one of the girl's groups. They stayed together for the rest of the afternoon.

The last place they visited was the ice rink. And as they arrived, Lucy nudged Stig in the ribs and pointed out onto the ice.

A figure was practising blocking movements on the ice with some college hockey players, the coach was off to one side. As the figure turned on the ice, Stig saw the familiar 'VENTURI' on the back of the Queens shirt.

He moved down to the boards and watched as his father demonstrated something to the players. Derek looked up and saw his son watching. He skated across to the coach and spoke to him. And then the next thing Stig knew he was kitted up and on the ice with the team.

Lucy saw Casey and her parents further round the rink and went to join them.

"Derek's good isn't he?" She said.

"The best." Said Casey proudly, looking like a groupie for a moment. "Stig's not bad either. Derek would be proud if he followed him. Mind you, he'd be just as proud if he didn't. He's not as obsessive as some players. He never could be, he's too laid back about everything." She paused. "How was it?"

"Great! I can't wait."

"Did Stig behave himself?"
"In his own way…yes." Lucy answered with a grin. She wondered what Casey would make of the earlier incident, but decided against telling her.

"Did you four have fun?" She asked her mom. Cathy nodded.

"This place is lovely, Lucy. You're going to have a great time."

"You know," said James. "I might take Derek up on his invitation to a hockey game. I could get into this. It's not bad when you know one of the guys playing."

They stood for a while as the two Venturi males showed off their skill and Lucy could tell from the coach's face that he was impressed with the younger player. She didn't know much about ice hockey, but she could tell Stig was skilled. His whole personality changed on the ice, the clown was gone and he was totally focussed. And Lucy got what her father meant.

It was nearly four, and as Derek and Stig came back to join them, they were grinning broadly. It was so easy to see they were father and son. The four elders started out for the car and Stig joined Lucy as she walked behind them.

"What did you think?"

"Not bad for a 'brain-dead moron'." She quoted. "Your dad's good. He makes it seem interesting. Maybe I should go to a game sometime."

Stig chuckled. "Stop calling me a moron and maybe I'll find you some tickets."