Poppy pushed her hair off her forehead with one hand. “I’m six!”
“Six already!? How’d you get to be such a big girl?”
“Well, isn’t this cozy?”
Claudia stiffened at the sound of Mike’s voice. His words slurred and his tone was filled with malice. She closed her eyes for the briefest second before turning to see him standing next to her, his lip curled. Smiling at him, she said, “Hey, babe, I was just wishing Poppy a happy birthday.”
Mike leaned toward his goddaughter. “Aren’t you’re the prettiest birthday girl in the whole world? You look exactly like your mom. Lucky little thing. You could’ve ended up with yourdad’s face instead.”
Poppy scrunched her eyes in confusion, and Zane shifted, distancing his daughter from his friend. “Hey man, you been drinking today?”
“Gotta do something to survive this shitty life,” he answered, lifting a bottle of Heineken to his lips. “Am I right, kid?” he asked Poppy, who nodded at him.
Mike used his pointer finger to jab Zane in the chest. “Did she tell you what happened the other night? When we were in bed?”
Claudia’s stomach tightened. “Mike, don’t.”
“I went for a muff dive, and she was enjoying it so much, she called out your name.”
Sienna appeared, moving herself between Mike and Zane. She had a tense smile and her tone was quiet. “What’s going on, guys?”
Mike leaned toward her. “Oh, good. You need to hear this too because it concerns you. Turns out my girlfriend is hot for your husband.”
“That’s not true, Mike,” Claudia hissed. “It was a mistake.”
“What kind of mistake?” Sienna asked in an icy tone.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Zane answered.
Sienna gave him the grandmother of all glares. “Oh, I think I will.”
Claudia felt impossibly hot with shame, and her throat closed up with tension. She gave Sienna a pleading look. “I was thinking about coming to this party when we were… you know, and I accidentally said the wrong name. It could’ve just as easily been yours. I was distracted and stressed and?—”
“Shut up, you dumb slut,” Mike slurred, lifting a lazy hand to Claudia’s face and giving her a shove.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” Zane yelled, using hisfree hand to push Mike, who, already off-balance, fell to the grass.
The party went silent as everyone watched Mike scramble to his feet, ready to fight. Sienna and Claudia both stepped in to keep the men apart. Poppy whimpered. Claudia shouted, “Stop it! Just stop it!”
“I won’t stop anything, whore,” Mike hollered. “You’re both whores. Just a couple of dirty, backstabbing whores.”
Sienna grabbed their daughter out of Zane’s arms, then hurried to get her out of harm’s way.
But Mike didn’t shove him back. Instead, he shook his head, tears springing to his eyes. “It’s never enough for you. You always had everything, Zane. Everything. When we were kids… and I had nothing.” His voice cracked. “Nothing. But even the one good thing that’s mine, you want to take.”
Zane set his jaw, his own eyes filling with tears. “That is not true, Mike. You’re drunk. Go home.”
“Drunk. Sober. It’s all the same. You need to be the golden boy of the whole goddamn world, don’t you?” Mike took a swing at Zane, but it was slow and the momentum of it caused him to spin a hundred and eighty degrees, then nearly fall over.
When he managed to turn back around, he rushed at Zane and tackled him to the ground.
Dean sprinted toward them, dropping his bottle of Corona on the pool deck. It broke with spectacular force, spraying tiny shards of glass in all directions. Well-dressed mothers snapped into action, blocking the area from their barefooted children. Dean reached them just as Sienna, who was standing behind a lounge chair with her daughter, shouted at Mike, her voice low and shaky, “Get the hell off my property.Now!”
Dean grabbed Mike’s arms and yanked him off Zane. “Let’s go, Mike. You’re done for today.”
“Yes, go home, Mike,” Claudia said quietly. “We can talk about this when you sober up.”
Turning on her, Sienna’s eyes were wide. “I’m talking to you too. Get out!”
