A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime(86)

She goes to her desk and grabs a stack of papers, then starts passing them out. “I was hoping a few of you might feel confident enough to give your presentation today, though I totally understand if you don’t feel up to it. I am springing it on you unannounced.”

Just thinking about making the presentation right now makes my legs go weak. I need to gear up for something like this, presenting in front of the class, especially since I’m doing it with Crew.

I’m still irritated with him for never texting me.

Skov stops by my desk, dropping the outline on top of it. “Excellent work, you two. I can’t wait to see this presentation.”

She walks away and I pick the paper up, looking at her suggestions. She really didn’t make any. Just lots of glowing comments and a few red exclamation points by specific parts on the paper.

“I think she liked it,” Crew murmurs, leaning over to scan the paper.

I turn toward him, not realizing he’s so close. “I’m mad at you.”

“I know.” He drifts his fingers across the top of my hand. I snatch it away from his reach. “I’ll explain everything later. I got called in. I was interviewed all morning.”

I’m frowning. “Interviewed? By who?”

“I’ll tell you later. Hey.” I blink at him. “You want to give this presentation now?”

“What? No way.” I shake my head.

“Come on, we can get it out of the way. Looking at her lack of constructive comments, I’m thinking we’ve got this thing on lock. We could give it in a couple of minutes, tops.”

“I don’t like speaking in public,” I admit.

“Are you serious? You’re always talking to people.”

“Not in front of a full class of students. Talking about myself and comparing and contrasting between the two of us. That’s just—intimidating.”

“Look, we’re going to be fine. Just follow the outline. Follow me. I won’t lead you astray.” He smiles, and I think with that smile alone Crew could lead me astray forever and ever.

“I don’t know…”

“We’re doing it.” He shoots his hand up despite my cry of protest. The moment Skov spots him, she nods in his direction.

“Please tell me you two are volunteering.”

He sets his hand on his desk. “We are.”

“All right. I’ll give you a few minutes to prepare. Let me know when you’re ready.” Skov makes her way to her desk, the rest of the classroom talking among themselves.

I glare at Crew, anxiety over this sudden presentation leaving me cold. A little shaky. “I am so not ready for this.”

“Wren.” He grabs hold of both of my hands and gives them a shake, his gaze boring into mine. “You’ve got this. It won’t be that hard. We’ll talk for three minutes tops, and we’ll be sharing that time. Ninety seconds. That’s it. I know you can do it.”

The way he’s looking at me, as if I can conquer the world, fills me with the tiniest flicker of courage.

“I don’t know…”

He squeezes my hands again. “Let’s go over the outline.”

So we do, me reading my parts to myself while he gives me pointers. I’ve seen Crew talk in front of a class before and it never seems to bother him. He has this effortless way about himself, a confidence I only wish I had.

“You’ve got this. Come on.” He rises to his feet and I follow on shaky legs, walking behind him to the front of the classroom. Skov watches us, a faint smile on her face.

“Are you ready?”

Crew nods. “Yep.”

Her gaze falls on me. “How about you, Wren?”

I nod. “Yes,” I lie.

No matter how much I prepare, I won’t be ready. I guess Crew is right.

We should just get this over with.

Crew starts talking and I follow his lead, interjecting with my observations. He explains our differences, while I offer our similarities, and after a while, we’ve established a rhythm, bouncing back and forth between each other. I’m feeling more confident. Standing taller, speaking louder. There are a few bored faces in the crowd, but for the most part, they seem interested and I have a realization near the end.

At least we’re doing this without Natalie here.

We’re just about to wrap it up when Crew mentions one last observation.

“I know I’ve talked mostly about our differences while Wren spoke of our similarities. I do have to mention that before I got to know Wren, I wasn’t a big fan of lollipops.” His gaze meets mine, a smirk on his face, and I suddenly want to die. “But she’s convinced me that they’re delicious, especially when she shares them.”

He pulls a couple of Blow Pops out of his pocket and starts tossing them, one directly at Ezra, who catches it with one hand.

Okay. He’s trying to make me die of embarrassment. Clearly.

“And that’s it,” I say, my voice weak.

Skov starts clapping and so does the rest of the class. “Interesting last point, Crew. Not sure why you felt the need to make it, but I’m glad you two could find some commonalities after all. I knew you would.”

“Thanks, Ms. Skov,” he drawls.

“Not the best usage of visuals, but I did spring this on you so I won’t mark you down for it,” Skov continues.