"Annie I can't…" I start into the phone. However if there's one thing I know about my favorite cousin it's that although she can seem like the most sweetest delicate person in the world, she has her firm moments where she can persuade anybody to do just about anything.

"Come one Katniss it's Friday night, do you have more important plans than spending tonight with me?" She pleads and I can visualize the pout she has probably formed with her bottom lip. "it would mean a lot to me." She leaves it at that, allowing the guilt to sink in.

I take a deep inhale. "Where exactly would we be going…" I let out in a monotone.

"Yay!" She squeaks. "Finnick is having his housewarming party tonight, it starts at 7. I'm not sure how late it will go but just tell your mom you're staying at my house." Finnick is a graduating senior at the same college as Annie while she's only a junior. They've only been dating for a year but he's had eyes for her ever since he first saw her at the frat orientation when she was an incoming freshman. From what Annie's frat sisters' had told her he was a notorious ladies' man, that is until he had his reigns set on Annie, who was quick to turn him down when he immediately asked her out. Without knowing she instilled his chase for her from that moment, until about a year ago when she finally agreed to become exclusive and they've been inseparable ever since. In fact, I don't really see her as much as I used to. When we were younger we used to be attached at the hip but I just interpreted our growing space to her college life, relationship and the fact that she had turned 21 earlier this year while I was barely approaching 18.

"He's found his own place already?" I asked a little surprised. Finnick wouldn't be graduating for another month, around the same time I would be graduating from my high school.

"Yeah you know him, impulsive and passionate." She chuckles but I can hear the slight adoring tone in it.

"What would I wear? Are you sure he's going to want a high scholer there?" I'm pertaining to myself but I already know the answer. Finnick doesn't mind anything that brings a smile to Annie's face, even if that means letting her underage cousin tag along with her to his rager he would be hosting at his new home. I had met him a couple times when Annie would occasionally bring him to family functions. He's never been less than a gentleman and it's obvious that they fit together better than puzzle pieces. You can always tell just by the way he looks at her…

"Are you kidding you look older than me and besides he was actually the one to remind me to invite you. I'll pick you up in a half hour and you can just get ready with me." Annie then requests to speak to my mom. It's brief, she's probably honed my mom in on our supposed itinerary for the night. Maybe something between the lines of a late movie marathon or a girl's dinner and movie in the city. Not like my mom ever checks into it, since Dad died she's as passive as a human being can get.

I retrieve my overnight bag from my closet and fill it with a set of pajamas, set of clothes for tomorrow and one more set of clothes just in case. I toss my toothbrush and a tube of mascara into a side pocket as it is pretty much the only piece of makeup I wear, I don't pack much else. I sit at the edge of my bed and look at the clock. I have about 15 more minutes til Annie should get here. I redo my braid as some loose strands had escaped and my eyes fall upon Prim's side of the bedroom. She too will be staying the night away which worked out perfectly since she wouldn't get much attention at home without me being here. I decide to feed Buttercup and refresh his water bowl while I have extra time on my hands. I grab a bag of pretzels to munch on and it's not long before Annie's car pulls up to my house.

"Feels like old days when we used to have sleepovers all the time. I hope you're ready for a good night." Annie gives me a crooked smile as I get into the passenger seat. I hope I do too I mentally add.

"You don't have another dress?" I groaned examining myself in Annie's mirror. She had given me a long summer dress that was backless and in the front it had a deep V cut that revealed my cleavage line. I wasn't so thrilled about the color either which was a coral pink. "I'm not going to be able to wear my bra with this one."

"I think that's kind of the point." Annie smirked. "Katniss if my boobs looked as good as yours I'd be wearing clothes like that all the time." Annie gestured to her own A cups, but having a face as gorgeous as hers I didn't pity her, everyone always raved about her facial beauty which caused them to overlook her small sized chest. She wore a short teal colored dress that clung to her body in all the right places. She pulled on a sleek black leather jacket on top and I realized the dress made it impossible to miss the green specks in her hazel eyes. Her hair was straightened and ended right around her lower back.

"Should I straighten my hair?" I questioned. Being that I was the ultimate tom-boy I was never good at any of this girly stuff. My neighbor and best friend, Gale, was who I spent most of my day with but that came to an end when he went off to college himself two years ago. I still see him when he comes home on breaks or for holidays and we're always able to reconnect not letting the distance phase our friendship. At school I now find myself in the company of Madge, a kind and quiet spoken girl that's been my lab partner since freshman year. She's nothing like Gale but we both seem to have a understanding that we can depend on each other keeping our distance from the different cliques at school.

"No just undo your braid and I'll give you a tiny bit of hairspray so the waves will stay in for the rest of the night." Annie beamed at me as she approached me with her makeup bag in hand. "Not that you need it but can I experiment a couple things on you?"

I nodded in agreement. Unlike me, Annie was an only child. I knew when we were younger she always envied me having Prim and maybe that's why she was always over at our house. My dad was also her godfather and she took it pretty hard when he died as did the rest of us. Her mom, which was his sister, proceeded to act as though his work accident never happen, she still to this day has never spoke about it almost like he was just away on a trip and I know it bothered Annie. During the time of his funeral she had nobody to comfort her at home while she mourned for her favorite uncle since her mom was so deep in denial about it. Although Annie lives in her fraternity house on campus, her mom still lets her keep her old room in the house. She hardly comes home to visit on weekends anymore, not that I blame her with her parent's recent divorce.

"I'm just about done." Annie murmured as she bit her bottom lip finishing my eyeliner. She turned me away from her and towards the mirror. My eyes grew wide in surprise as I took in the subtle but noticeable additions Annie had done to my face. Besides my initial mascara she had added eyeliner to the my eyelids and lightly filled in my eyebrows. "And last but not least..." She handed me a soft pink gloss to apply onto my lips. "It's about to be 7 so I guess we should get going since it's 45 minutes out." Annie announced as she started to gather her things in a small clutch.

"Fine with me." I breathed. It had been a while since I spent quality time with Annie but I was sincerely glad to be with her tonight despite the outfit she picked for me tonight. Her, Prim and Gale were just about the only people who seemed to understand me and I was perfectly fine with that. Little did I know tonight that was all going to change.

Surprisingly, Finnick's house nothing short of simple. From what Annie had told me before I knew his parents died his freshman year of college and he was left with all the inheritance being an only child himself as well. For this reason I was surprised the home wasn't more extravagant since usually young people tend to spend their money unwisely. It sat just ten minutes away from their university in a quiet little neighborhood. It was a cozy two story that included two bedrooms, two bath, a spacious living room with a chimney and a small den that he had converted to a man cave with a pool table and small bar.

We let ourselves in as the front door was unlocked and it didn't take long to spy Finnick who was attention, along with about five other guys, was engaged in the soccer game displayed on his big screen.

"What did I tell you Brazil's gonna take it!" He excited. He did a silent round of applause with his hands before his attention switched our way almost as if he sensed Annie's presence, which he probably did since they were so head over hills for each other.

"Hey Babe, about time you made it." He rose from the couch.

"Finn you remember my cousin Katniss..." Annie said slicking her arm around his waist as he reached her and he placed a matching arm over her shoulder as he greeted her with a quick peck before he turned to me. I had never seen someone with a smile as big as Finnick's.

"Of course I could never forget a pretty face especially one that resembles Ann." He used his free arm to pull me into a quick hug. "Feel free to help yourself to anything. The caterer arrives at 8:30. Mi casa es tu casa." He gave Annie another quick kiss before continuing on with his duty of hosting.

"I think he set up some tables for BP out back by the Jacuzzi, let's go see if we still got it." Annie grabbed my hand and led me to the backyard. When she was in high school she would drag me along to parties, sometimes Gale too if I insisted. We were known to be pretty lethal but I felt like that was ages ago. Who knows if I was any good still. But sure enough there was two long BP tables and two round tables, one for poker and one for black jack. We approached the first BP table as Annie seemed to know everyone.

She greeted them with hugs before bringing their attention to me. "Hey guys this is my cousin Katniss. Katniss this is Cato, Thresh, Joanna, Glimmer, Marvel and Peeta. I made an effort to smile at each of them and then my eyes fell on who she introduced last. His piercing blue eyes seemed to bore into my gray ones before he released his face into a smile.

"Where've you been hiding her…" The one named Marvel mumbled and Peeta's smile quickly disappeared as he shot a look to his friend. They had all acknowledged me with a whats up or nice to meet you but he was the only to reach out and offer his hand.

"Hi." Was all that came out of his mouth. I shook his hand and felt slightly uncomfortable when I noticed he didn't drop his gaze from me when I let go of it.

The brown haired brown eyed girl that Annie introduced as Joanna was the one to snap him back to reality. "Peeta are you going to go get your partner so me and Thresh can put your ass to shame or are you going to keep drooling over Annie's cousin like you never seen cleavage before." She snorted and i felt the blood rushed to my cheeks as I knew it was inevitable that now if they hadn't noticed, the attention would now be on my chest.

He finally broke his stare. "Shut the fuck up Johanna."

"Me and Katniss have next game." Annie spoke up, earning a nod from Johanna and the blond haired blue eyed boy went to fetch Finnick calling his name as he entered the back door of the house.

It was only a minute or two before they returned. "What's it gonna be Mason? 3 tequila shots back to back for the losing pair?" Finnick raised his eyebrows at Johanna.

"Actually I was thinking this time losing team strips down in front of everybody before taking their shots." She grinned causing Peeta and Finnick to exchange a quick glance at each other before shrugging.

"Why not, it won't be us anyways." Finnick coaxed and when I glanced at his partner I once again found him staring at me. I quickly averted my eyes to the other side of the table to see Joanna whisper something to Thresh as their faces were overcame with seriousness. Suddenly I wasn't sure if I would want to play the next game, they all seemed pretty competitive.

After what was a close game with back to back shots made from each team. It even came down to both teams having only one cup left. Thresh shot and it hit the rim of the cup and bounced out. Johanna shot next and I saw her eyes burn into the cup as she concentrated. She shot and it swirled around the top rim of the cup but before it could touch the beer at the bottom of the cup Peeta quickly fingered it out.

"What the fuck Mellark!" Johanna gritted through her teeth.

"That was fair and you know it Johanna." Peeta replied. "Just ask the sideline refs..." He hand waved in me and Annie's direction.

"Looked fair to me..." Annie shrugged and then everyone's eyes fell on me.

"Umm yeah it hadn't touched the beer yet." I mustered up. Peeta smiled thankfully at me but I didn't let me eyes meet his for too long before I turned my glaze elsewhere.

"Game on." Finnick said as he took his shot and made it swiftly into the last cup. Peeta stepped up to make his shot next and he made it effortlessly. They cheered each other on for both making it and then turned to Johanna. Cato started to pour the 6 tequila shots, three for each half of the team. Johanna rolled her eyes as she took off her jean jacket to reveal a black corset looking top that she started and leather leggings next. Thresh at this point was already left in his boxers. They were about the take their first shots when Johanna told Thresh to hold on.

"Since you guys seem to be enjoying this so much..." Johanna smirked before she unclasped the back of her strapless bra and pulled her underwear down to her ankles. I felt my jaw detach in shock. This girl was crazy. I saw Annie slightly roll her eyes but she didn't look surprised, it must be typical behavior for her.

"Please put your clothes back on Johanna I wouldn't want to get any complaints from my new neighbors." He joked and she responded to him with her middle finger.

"Next?" Peeta urged as he started to rerack the cups. Me and Annie approached the other side of the table and I rearranged our cups as she poured the beer into them.

"Baby I'll try to make this quick and painless." Finnick winked at Annie.

"You know that's not what I like Finn..." Annie trailed off as she sent a smug smile his way earning laughs from everyone else.

The look in Finnick's eye was priceless as he was, for once speechless. His clever self didn't take long to conjure up a response though. "I'm saving that part for later... gotta break in the new house and all." He earned back his respect from the guys and I saw Annie's shy smile before she shook her head and returned her focus to the beer.

The truth is we didn't do as bad as I thought we would. Annie and I had luck on our side as once in a while we would make the same cup, meaning the boys take three cups out each time. All four of us had an additional drink on the side, excluding the beer that we would sip on and towards the end of the game I felt the tingle in my arms and legs indicating I was on a good buzz.

The boys gained a victory by beating us the same way they won previously, both making the last cup in one round. Annie chugged what was left in the cup they made and I made my way to the other side of the table to gather the two cups that we had left.

"Does that mean you're going to strip to take your shots too?" The humored voice came from the side of me. I look up and this is the first time I get to see him up close. His tone shoulders and stance led me to believe that he must be athletic. He was about four inches taller than me so he had to be somewhere among 5'9''. He wore jet black jeans that fit well enough so you could see the outline of his legs. His feet supported converse which matched perfectly with his plain white tee. I could smell a faint hint of the cologne he was wearing that must have faded throughout the night. I remembered how I used to hate it when Gale would use any cologne or aftershave but this smelled… good. Appealing almost. My eyes rose to take in his face and I was again welcomed with those electric blue pools looking back at mine. His white straight teeth visible through the teasing smile his face wore. His sandy blond hair lay on top of his head and it was just long enough for him to run his fingers through.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just messing with you. We don't expect you to… we didn't make a clear bet before the game so it's cool... besides you don't seem like the type..." He put his hands up as he spoke.

"And what type is that?"

"I just meant you seem like the shy type. You're probably too pure to do something like that…" He muttered trying to hold in a chuckle.

"What makes you think you know me." I snap. Everyone's eyes seem to be glued on us now.

Finnick tried to intervene. "The caterer is set up in the kitchen. Everyone come get some grub." Thresh, Glimmer and Marvel seemed to get his hint as they made their way into the house but Cato stayed back looking smugly at me and Peeta.

"Look don't take it's personal… you don't even have to take the shots if you don't want." Peeta offered, pulling the bottle away from me and more towards him.

"Peeta stop harassing the girl…" Finnick groaned as he stood behind Annie with his arms wrapped around her.

"Sure..." He turned to walk away but I could see in his eyes he was a little entertained that his statements had flustered me.

What happened next was something I can't explain. I had always been the type of girl to stand up for myself, which caused my other traits like my stubbornness and hard headedness to only add fuel to the fire. It had to be liquid courage the couple of drinks I had combined with my anger and annoyance towards Peeta. He seemed to think he had me all figured out and I hated that. He had another thing coming. I kicked off Annie's gladiator sandals that I had borrowed and begin the pull up the dress I was wearing over my head.

"Katniss you don't have to..." Annie rushed out but it didn't stop me.

"Finally someone else who isn't such a pussy." Johanna sighed, subliminally cheering me on. Peeta must've heard because he turned around. My eyes met him for a quick second before the dress covered my face as the last of it rose over my head. I stood topless but still in my thong, which was just as the same as being naked. I heard Johanna laugh but I didn't make eye contact with everybody else except my doubter. I grabbed the bottle and pranced over to stand right in front of him.

"If you think you know me, you have no idea…" My eyes stayed on his face as he kept it poker and unreadable. I took three back to back shots from the bottle before handing it over to him and picking my dress up from the floor.

"Show's over guys… I didn't pay for a caterer for nothing." Finnick voiced as he waved his arm towards the house. Annie helped me adjust the dress back into place after I slipped it back on.

"Can't say I don't admire your guts…" She giggled in a low tone. She gave me a light patt on my back before disappearing into Finnick's house after the rest of them. This left me outside with no one other than my blonde haired provoker. His eyes still on me.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you that staring is fucking rude?" I sneered earning a grin from him.

"I guess we're one in the same. What makes you think you know me so well?" He closed the distance between us, his chest half a foot away from mine. I didn't reply not sure what he meant and he seemed to interpret that as he continued. "I never actually doubted that you wouldn't strip and take the shots. I just sensed that you would be game to do it if it felt like it was your own choice… Reverse psychology for you."

I clenched my jaw as a twinge of stupidity came over me. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? It was irritating that he took pride in his little shenanigan.

He leaned in to whisper in my ear. "But for what it's worth that was much better than I imagined… Shall we?" I couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine from the close proximity of his hot breath on my ear. He reached for my hand but I jerked it away getting a head start on him as I made my way to the house. I kept the tantrum that I wanted to throw under control. I would not allow him to get anything else from me the rest of the night. Or so I thought…