“Dean’s right,” Mike said. “This is the call.”
“Like hell it is,” Zane told him. “And it’s not his call to make.”
“I vote we do it Dean’s way,” Rusty said.
“I second,” Steven put in.
Rage filled Zane’s blood, and he snorted like a bull about to charge. “I don’t recall this being a democracy.”
“Are you goddamn kidding me right now?” Mike asked. “Whoareyou even? Because I can’t seem to find my friend anywhere in there.”
“Who am I?” Zane retorted, his words louder than they should have been with reporters nearby. “WhoAM I?”
“Yeah, you used to be my best friend, but now, I don’t know what the fuck you are. Just some raging asshole with a hard-on for my girlfriend.”
“Okay, that’s enough, Mike,” Dean snapped. “That’s notfair and it’s not true. Now, I know you’re upset about the article. That’s understandable. They dealt you a dirty blow this time around, but there’s no need to get crazy.”
“That’s right,” Zane said. “I didn’t do anything wrong, and neither did the woman you claim to love over there, who you treat like shit, by the way.” He glanced at Claudia. “You can do better. You know that, right?”
Her mouth dropped open. A second later, her eyes filled with fear and resentment, not the appreciation he assumed he’d get.
He turned back to Mike. “And if you’re going to believe some asshole journalist over the two of us, you can go fuck yourself.”
“You go fuck yourself,” Mike said. “Your wife certainly won’t do it after reading that shitty rag.”
“Aww, come on, Mike,” Rusty muttered. “You’re gonna make it worse.”
Zane saw their exchange and knew immediately that Rusty must have spoken to Kitty, who must have spoken to Sienna. “What don’t I know, Russ?”
Rusty shook his head. “Nothing man. Don’t worry about it.”
“Did Sienna call Kitty crying and accusing me of something I didn’t do?”
“She’s just embarrassed, you know? It’s understandable given the circumstances,” Rusty said. “We expect a lot from our wives, man. We gotta cut them some slack here and there.”
“What about Claudia? Can we possibly cut her some fucking slack too?” Zane shouted. “It seems to me that she’s the one who’s gonna get hurt the worst from this.” Turning to Mike, he yelled, “But I doubt you give a shit about that, do you? Because it’s not the Mike show and you can’t stand it.”
“No, Zane, it’s fine. I don’t want to cause more dam—” Claudia started, but it was too late. Mike was already rushing at Zane, his fists up, guitar hanging off-kilter across his torso.
“You wanna go?” Zane asked, laughing as if this was a great joke.
“Yeah, I wanna fucking go,” Mike spat out. “This is twenty years overdue.”
“Seriously? You think you can take me, you little shit?” Zane shouted, shoving Mike in the chest, and knocking him back.
Mike stumbled but didn’t fall. Instead, he caught himself and ran at Zane. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
“No! Do not fight, you two assholes!” Dean yelled, getting between them just in time to catch a right hook to the cheek.
Zane shoved Dean out of the way and let loose a barrage of punches, catching Mike’s left eye, then splitting his lip. Within seconds, Steven and Dean managed to tackle the pair to the ground. The audience had gone silent, except for the clicks of the cameras and the odd gasp. The stadium staff had completely forgotten they were supposed to be pretending to mind their own business. The thunder rolled again, closer this time.
Dean, who was on top of Zane, held his arms down, his cheek swelling up. “You done?”
Already ashamed, Zane said, “Yeah.”
“Are you done?!” Dean shouted at him.
“I already said I was,” Zane ground out. “Get the fuck off me.”
