worth the risk • dean portman

chapter twenty six

dean

I'm not usually one to say this, but it feels great to be home.

I won't lie and say that I didn't miss Minnesota while I was in Chicago. Even though I was with my family, a part of me was constantly thinking about everything back there. My friends, my girlfriend, the sport I love, and everything I was missing out on.

I know there were four parties when I was gone, and it killed me. Even though I was only gone for two weeks, I'm annoyed that I missed out on the fun. Although, I do question if there was really any fun to be had. Everyone knows that I bring the fun to parties, so i can only imagine how dull they were without me.

Anyways, that's besides the point. With my mom's help, I realized that the only way to show Morgan's parents I'm good enough for their daughter is to prove it to them. If they're not going to believe me on their own, I have no other choice than to show them.

And that's why I'm currently lying on the floor in Connie's living room, watching as her and Julie make a bulleted list about how I'm going to prove to Morgan's parents that I'm good for her. I think the best idea is to break Morgan's front door down and give her dad a piece of my mind, but Connie and Julie don't think that's a great idea.

"Listen Con, I really don't think there's any harm in busting their door down." I repeat for probably the tenth time, sitting up to look at both Connie and Julie. "I'm sure I can buy them a new one, and it'll show her parents just how tough I am."

"Dean, you sound like a fucking idiot." Adam says, looking at me from his spot on the couch. "All that's going to do is make them like you even less. Seriously, are you stupid or something? That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life."

"Sorry preppy, didn't mean to push your buttons." I answer with a scoff. "What's wrong? You and Walker get into a fight or something?"

He doesn't answer me, and the room becomes deadly silent. No one says anything until Russ decides to clear his throat, but the room still feels awkward. I look around at the rest of the Ducks, who are all looking anywhere but Adam. My eyes finally land on Luis, who meets my gaze.

"What's going on with him?" Luis mouths to me, to which I shrug. It's not usual for Adam to lash out, even though what he said wasn't exactly wrong. Breaking the Andersen's door down probably wouldn't go to well for me.

After a few more second of silence, I finally look to my friends and throw my arms out in a frustrated gesture. "Well? Anyone?"

"I think Connie and Julie finished all of the details for their plan." Averman replies, pushing up his glasses and giving me a small smile.

I turn to the girls, who seem to get the hint. Julie lays a piece of paper in front of me, and I become quickly overwhelmed with the amount of bullets on the page. They all seem like a lot of work, but I'm willing to put in the effort if that's what it'll take. I deserve to be given a chance.

"We were thinking about having you do a grand gesture of some kind. That way, you can show Morgan's parents how you've taken care of her for two years and how you're still able to." Connie explains, pointing at all of the various bullets. "Jules and I came up with a list of things that we think would be good ideas for you to do. Take a look."

"And once you pick an idea, all of us will then know what to do and how to help you plan everything out!" Julie chimes in, grinning from ear to ear. "Connie and I stayed up all of last night working on this, so you better like at least a few of the ideas. I didn't get three hours of sleep for nothing."

Laughing to myself, I start skimming the list of ideas. The ones that stick out the most to me are the fancy dinner and the nice gifts. I quickly realize that whatever plan I choose is going to end up being really expensive. For some reason though, I don't mind. I'm probably going to work at Hans' shop over the summer anyway, so I'll make the money back.

"I know which one I want to do." I announce, glancing up to look at my teammates.

"Well that was quick." I follow the voice to Luis, his infamous smirk plastered on his face.

I roll my eyes sarcastically and narrow my eyes at him. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Mendoza!"

"Dean! You need to focus!" Connie protests, crossing her arms as she starts to display a sour look. "If you don't tell us which idea you chose, how are we supposed to help you? You have a tough crowd to convince, and dilly-dallying isn't going to help you win them over."

Although she does sound a bit whiny, she's right. I'm not going to win over Morgan's parents by fooling around and making jokes with my teammates. Besides, both her and Julie put a lot of work into giving me these options. It would be rude of me to not use one of them after they took time out of their schedules to do this for me.

I walk over to Connie and gently squeeze her shoulder, which is my attempt at a peace offering. "I really like the nice dinner idea. It doesn't seem too hard, and I think it'll prove to Morgan's parents that I can and have taken care of her."

"Perfect! Let's get started!" Connie exclaims, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Boys, let's get to work!"

All of my teammates audibly groan, but still stand up and start working once Connie has barked out orders at them. If there's two things I've learned in the past hour, it's these things.

One, Connie Moreau is actually terrifying and a force to be reckoned with. And two, Morgan's parents have no idea what's about to hit them.

**a/n**
hi guys i'm so sorry this chapter sucks. it's so repetitive and boring but this is all i can do since i have a test literally every day this week, and studying has taken up at least 90% of my time recently. i hope you're all ready for the rest of the book, only 6 chapters left!!!!!

see you soon <3
xoxo,
-c