AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, yeah, but it sounded different the way you said it. And there’s much more to the movies than just boxing.”
Hayley had a reply ready to go, but then Pauline arrived with the food. It only took one sip of a perfect chocolate milkshake to make her forget what she was going to say.
“Oh my God.” She closed her eyes, savoring it. “Bless you, Nick Freeman.”
He laughed. “What are friends for?”
“I’m getting one of these every day,” she decided. “Today is the first day of the rest of my milkshake-filled life.”
“You’ll be Pauline’s favorite person.” Nick studied his burger, planning his approach. “So you googledRocky, huh?”
“Oh, I watched it.”
That got his attention. “You watched it?”
“Sure,” she said. “Kevin was in bed by the time I got home Saturday night, and I figured what the hell.”
Nick looked like he didn’t quite believe her. “Did you like it?”
Hayley grabbed the Dominator with both hands and bit into a whole lot of grilled goodness. “He’s such a shitty boxer. I mean, I thought he was going to justpoundApollo …”
“He did.”
“He just kept getting hit in the face!” She wiped mustard from her mouth. “How’s he even alive after that?”
Nick chewed thoughtfully. “Look—”
“Oh my God, you’re winding up. Am I about to get a lecture?” She winked at him, and he smiled.
“It’s not about whether he wins,” he said. “Rocky wants it more. He trains and he gets beat up and he’s still standing at the end because he decided he was going to be worth something.”
“He wasn’t worth something before? Adrian loved him.”
“Sure, but he wasn’t really doing anything with his life. He had to prove to everyone that he wasn’t just a bruiser for a loan shark.”
“Prove to himself, you mean.”
“Sure.”
“By beating someone up.”
He took his time. “It’s nice to be in a fight with an actual target.”
Hayley could see him deciding to be diplomatic, and she didn’t want him to hide from her. “If that’s the case,” she said, “why not watchUnder Siege?”
Nick looked like he’d just found something rotten in his burger, and she was delighted. “Let me get this straight,” he said. “Just so I can tell Gavin exactly why this friendship didn’t work.”
She said nothing, just watched him with exaggerated, wide-eyed innocence.
He said, “You’re saying I’d be better off watching a shitty version ofDie Hardthan the best underdog movie in history.”
Hayley shrugged. “There are more fights in that one.”
“RockywonthreeOscars.” Nick gestured with a kettle chip. “How many didUnder Siegewin?”
“Not a clue,” she said cheerfully. “What’d Rocky win?”
Nick stopped being exasperated long enough to think about it. “Um … best picture, best director, and best film editing. And it was nominated for seven others. Best actor, best actress, two supporting actor nominations …”
