"She’s your own apprentice." Lennon cut off my words. His tall frame loomed over me as he grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes.
The years of playing instruments had hardened his hands and they had already developed a thick layer of calluses, which caused the pressure of his grip stung sharply.
"Claire, your memory must be failing you. You’re the one who has ignored me countless times for your apprentice. And now you want to feign some high ground? Are you afraid that Mia will take your place?"
His cold gaze bore into me, but there was a teasing curve on his lips.
I gritted my teeth against the pain and drew a deep breath, my gaze shifting past Lennon to Mia. "Why should I be afraid of a woman with no talent?"
Mia’s face froze, her previous expression of grievance vanishing instantly.
Her lips trembled faintly as she glared at me, her anger boiling to the surface. Then, without warning, she stormed toward me and slapped me across the face.
Slap!
I was so stunned by the slap that the force instantly knocked me off balance and I staggered backward.
A stabbing pain flared in my lower back as I fell and the ringing in my ears subsided.
I gasped for air and glanced back, only to find the violin case toppled over, its delicate strings now crushed beneath the chaos.
But almost instantly, her expression shifted again, her face morphing into an image of fragile innocence.
She stumbled toward me, her body trembling and her voice shaking.
"Coach Claire, I... I didn’t mean to! I didn’t want to..."
A wry smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Without a word, I pushed her away gently, my gaze locking onto hers with a quiet, hollow pity.
The room fell into a heavy silence. At last, Lennon was unable to sit by any longer.
He walked toward me. Sliding an arm around me, he tucked my disheveled hair behind my ear and gently pressed my lower back with his other hand.
"Does it hurt here? Or anywhere else?" he asked softly, leaning in close enough that his breath brushed against my skin, causing a goosebump.
In a moment of daze, I foolishly believed that Lennon Sullivan's tenderness still belonged to me. That all his recent irritations were just his way of wanting me to take him more seriously.
Softening my tone, I sighed and began, "I didn't neglect you..."