worth the risk • dean portman

chapter twelve

dean

I swallow the lump of nervousness in my throat as I walk up to Morgan's door dressed in a polo shirt and nice pants, with flowers in hand.

It still gives me chills every time I pull up in front of her house, whether it's to pick her up, drop her off, or anything else. I just can't get over the fact that she actually lives in such a huge house either. It honestly just blows my mind.

I knock three times and wait, just like Morgan said to. She opens the door a few seconds later, and I swear my breath hitches. She's wearing a sweater with black leather pants, and she looks beautiful. Her hair is curled and she has some makeup on too, which makes her look even better.

I hand her the flowers, which brings an instant smile to her face. She disappears with them for a few seconds and comes back afterwards, yelling out a goodbye to her mother as she shuts the door behind her.

"Ready?" I ask with a smile.

She grabs my hand and interlaces our fingers. "You bet."

We walk hand-in-hand down the steps and to the car, and I stop us in front of the passenger side door. "Ladies first!" I say with a bow as I open the door for her, which gets me a laugh in response.

I smile to myself as I walk around to the driver's seat, because I can't help but smile when I'm with this girl. No one has ever made me this happy before. It's honestly kind of scary, because I don't know what I'd do if something went wrong.

Once I'm all set to go, I look at Morgan with a smirk. "I hope you know how lucky you are. I'm spending most of my allowance on this date tonight."

"I expect nothing but the best." she teases, and it makes me smile even wider. Gosh, I'm so helplessly in love with this girl. I'm so glad I took a chance for once and it actually paid off, because we're about to go on our two year anniversary date.

I was never the one to chase before Morgan, because I was the one being chased. Girls came to me like bees came to honey, so I never had to do much work. When it actually came time to put in the work, I honestly wasn't sure if I could do it. I'm glad that freshman Dean actually used his brain for once.

On the drive to the Minnesota Club, Morgan plays Taylor Swift the entire car ride. This girl and her obsession with Taylor is kind of scary, if I'm going to be completely honest. She refuses to listen to anyone else in the car, and I have to suffer through it.

Okay fine, maybe I do like some of her songs and sing along to them when they come on. But, I'd much rather listen to rock or any rapper than her. To me, both options are so much better than a girl who just sings about all of her ex-boyfriends.

When I pull into the restaurant, I make sure that Morgan doesn't leave the car. I quickly run around to the passenger side and open up the door for her, offering my hand out and helping her get out of the car.

"You don't always have to do that, you know." Morgan says once she's at my side. "I can get out on my own just fine."

"I know." I answer, grabbing her hand again. "I just like being a gentleman."

We walk inside and I give the hostess my name, so that she knows I have a reservation. After confirming, she grabs two menus and leads us to a nice table near the back of the dining space. The table is set with candles and nice silverware, and the dark glow of the room gives everything a romantic vibe.

Like the gentleman I am, I pull out Morgan's seat for her and let her sit before I do. When I'm seated, I grab the menu and start to scan it for possible meals that I might want. I wasn't here when the Ducks got pranked by varsity in freshman year, but I know some of them don't like this place because of it.

After our waiter has taken our drink orders, I look at Morgan from over my menu. "What do you think you're gonna get?"

"I'm not sure yet." she replies with a shrug. "I'm trying to decide between two things."

"Get whatever your heart desires." I reassure her, and hope she doesn't hear the nervous note in my voice. I brought enough money to pay, but I'm nervous that she won't get what she wants because she wants to make it cheaper for me.

A few minutes later, the waiter comes back and takes our orders. I decide to get a strip steak with french fries, and Morgan chooses filet mignon with a side salad. I feel extremely relieved when he takes our menus away, because looking at the prices of the steaks was starting to make me sick.

We talk about a bunch of things while we wait for our food, and a part of me is shocked to find no stoppage in the conversation. After two years, you'd think that couples wouldn't have anything interesting to talk about unless it's some huge news or something. Not us though, we still haven't run out of things to talk about.

The waiter brings out our food around half an hour later, which is honestly pretty quick for a fancy place like this. When I take my first bite, I think I actually enter steak heaven.

"Holy fuck." I say as I immediately begin cutting another piece. "This is so good. I don't know why the Ducks hate this place."

"Shhh, don't curse in here! People can hear you!" Morgan scolds, and I roll my eyes playfully in response.

"Besides," she adds. "The Ducks got pranked here, so I understand why some of them have a grudge against this place. I'm surprised they showed up to Ella's sweet after finding out it was here."

I think for a second and then shrug my shoulders. "Fair enough."

The food here is fucking fantastic. I know I like to joke around a lot, but I get why this place is as popular and expensive as it is. By the time I've finished, I don't even know if I want dessert. Who are we kidding? Of course I want dessert. It's me we're talking about, for fuck's sake. Who goes to a restaurant and doesn't get dessert?

Morgan and I decide to split the brownie sundae, which is honestly one of the smartest decisions I've made in a while. According to Morgan, they're absolutely giant and I'd probably get really sick if I ate one on my own.

Just as the waiter places it down and walks away, it's not even thirty seconds until a figure approaches and places his hand on Morgan's shoulder. I immediately glare at him and sit up straight in my chair. "Who the fuck are you?"

The blonde guy puts his hands up and chuckles. "Relax man, I'm just a friend of Morgan's. I came over quickly to say hello. No harm done."

"Well, I don't know who the hell you are." I snap, suddenly noticing how uncomfortable Morgan looks. "I suggest that you get your hands off my girlfriend before I beat the shit out of you in front of all these people."

"Your girlfriend?" the blonde guy repeats, and I don't miss the emphasis that he puts on 'girlfriend'.

"Yeah dude, she's my girlfriend. And I think she doesn't want you here, so leave." I snap again, but the guy doesn't move.

"You can't speak for her." he taunts as he looks down at Morgan. "Do you want me to leave Morgan? Don't listen to him, listen to me. Do you want me to leave?"

Morgan sits completely frozen, and I'm two seconds away from jumping out of my seat when she finally nods her head. The guy looks at her, looks at me, gives me a smirk, and turns around, leaving Morgan in tears and me fuming.

"Can we go?" she asks quietly, and I immediately signal for the waiter to come over. I ask for a box for the sundae and the check, all while my heart is pounding in my chest and a million questions are racing through my mind. After I pay and wrap the dessert up, I grab Morgan's hand and lead her back to the car.

The drive back to her house is a silent one, and my hands hurt so badly from how hard I'm squeezing the wheel. I need to punch something, and I need to do it soon. Otherwise, I'm going to blow up.

When I pull up to Morgan's house, she mutters a quick thank you and sprints inside. Now that she's gone, I finally take my opportunity and slam my fist onto the passenger's seat. I keep punching it until my knuckles have cracked open and blood starts to seep into the seat.

Who the hell was that guy? And why did Morgan look like a ghost when she saw him? All I know is that he ruined my anniversary date with me girlfriend. And now, I have to uncover a bunch of things that I'm not so sure I'm going to want to.