Disclaimer: This fic is rated 'M' for language and sexual content. I do not own any of the characters of The Hunger Games (although I wish I did). All other ideas and creative liberties are my own.
"Hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and a shot of hazelnut, please," Katniss said as she shuffled up to the counter without looking up. Grumbling to herself, she struggled to extricate a five dollar bill from her wallet, all the while trying but mostly failing at juggling the five too many bags in her hands.
With a triumphant "ah-ha", she tossed the bill down on the counter just in time to catch the garment bag containing her dress before it fell to the ground. The last thing she needed was an overnight dry cleaning bill. Despite her sour mood, she managed a tight-lipped smile as the red-headed barista who was suspiciously always managing the cash register when she came in rung up her order. Darius? Was that his name? As expected, what's-his-name grinned back at her like a buffoon, but today her patience was running thin and she was not in the mood for the inevitable bout of forced small talk and one-way flirting. Her feet ached, her head was throbbing, and she was cranky as hell.
"Keep the change," she muttered as he opened his mouth but she escaped further down the counter just in time to wait for her drink.
What a shit show of a morning. As much as she loved Madge, why on earth had she agreed to be part of the wedding? And who on earth needed nine bridesmaids? Nine! Which meant there were nine groomsmen and she didn't have to be a math whiz to figure out that, including the bride and groom, they made up a whopping twenty member wedding party. They'd need a goddamn school bus to truck everyone around town on the wedding day. Which reminded her, she had to call the limo company again to confirm that they had indeed managed to locate a stretch SUV long enough to accommodate them all.
At least the bridesmaid dresses weren't a nightmare. Madge had been right when she said it was a dress they could all wear again, considering she'd chosen convertible dresses that could be worn in an infinite number of ways and she'd left it up to them to choose a style that suited each bridesmaid best. One problem, though. As amazing as the dress choice was, the fabric wasn't exactly forgiving which meant her go to bra and underwear weren't going to cut it unless she wanted to be that girl who walked around with heinous panty lines all day. Nope, no thank you. Hence why she'd spent the better part of her only free day of the week running around town trying to find shoes and panty-line-free undergarments.
But as always, she'd left everything to the last minute. So although she was able to find a surprisingly comfortable pair of heels on clearance, she was shit outta luck in the lingerie department. After rummaging through the less than stellar selection at the local box store, she'd choked down her distaste for the mall and twenty minutes later had found herself surrounded by an obscene amount of satin and lace and larger-than-life sized posters of women covered in nothing more than 3 square inches of fabric. What she thought would be a quick in-and-out job had somehow morphed into a torturous half hour ordeal of trying to locate a standard black strapless bra and thong in her size that didn't cost an arm and a leg.
Damn her average size 34B boobs. Because of them, the only affordable set she was able to get her hands on from the discount bin was orange—bright fucking orange, and of course, the thong was nothing more than a triangle scrap of lace that would require some major landscaping of her nether region if she wanted to pull it off. But she only had herself to blame for procrastinating. Yeah, karma was indeed a bitch.
Of course, the checkout line had been a mile long too, and to top it all off, the slimy bald guy behind her had no concept of person space and had made her skin crawl as he practically breathed down her neck the entire time. When her turn at the cashier came up, she'd cried out from relief as she raced up to the counter and tossed the bra and thong at the sales lady, who of course made a huge production of holding up Katniss's purchases for the world to see as she scanned them. That was the moment Katniss hit her breaking point. Before the saleslady could continue with her song and dance of wrapping the garments up in pink and black tissue paper and topping it off with a satin ribbon, Katniss tossed down the amount of cash owed, grabbed her purchases, and shoved them into the ridiculous pink bag that screamed "I just purchased naughty lingerie".
So yeah, she totally deserved the extra whipped cream on her once a week chocolaty indulgence. As she waited, Katniss mentally went through the to-do list Madge had entrusted her to and glanced around the coffee shop, but just when the barista called out her order for pickup, a familiar head of blond hair caught her eye and she smiled. But her smile quickly faded when after another glance she noticed the second head of blonde hair seated across from the first. Thing was, the second blonde came with a pretty smile, glossy pink lips, and a ginormous rack that the buttons of her blouse were struggling to contain.
It was when the woman reached out and playfully squeezed his arm that Katniss saw red. What. The. Fuck. Her hands clenched into fists and her body went rigid as a rush of anger coursed through her veins. There was no way in hell this was happening on her watch.
The barista shouted out her order again, causing Katniss to tear her attention away from the two blondes who seemed to be having quite the animated conversation. She muttered a quick apology as she struggled to snap a lid on her cup and then, after shifting her bags yet again and squaring her shoulders, she marched across the coffee shop like a woman on a mission.
"What the fuck!" she bellowed as she stalked up behind his hunched over form. But when he didn't turn, she let out a frustrated huff, effectively catching the attention of the pretty blonde seated across from him. The woman stared at her for a second with wide eyes and an open mouth, but she snapped it shut when Katniss finally reached the table and grabbed hold of his shoulder. "I'm talking to you, Mellark! What the fuck are you do—"
The words died in her throat when he turned and she got lost in a pair of startled yet piercing blue eyes. She shifted her gaze, blatantly soaking in the rest of him. His hair was the same, so was his broad, muscular frame, but his features were wrong, all wrong. The man in front of her was gorgeous. Utterly gorgeous. And most definitely not Madge's fiancée, Rye Mellark.
The man had a perfectly defined jaw and straight nose, unlike Rye's whose was slightly crooked thanks to a high school wrestling injury (or so he'd said). And unlike Rye's pale blue eyes, this man's were a deep glacial blue, like nothing she'd ever seen before. And his mouth…good lord, his mouth. She'd never given a second thought to Rye's lips before but this man…she was practically salivating with the craziest urge to taste his. Then the corner of his mouth lifted into an amused and insanely sexy smirk that caused all rational thought to leave her head.
Wow. She had to be dreaming. The guy was unreal.
Clearing his throat, he glanced down at the hand she still had clutched to his shoulder. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she stammered, taking a step back and wrenching her hand away as if burned. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks. "You're not Rye."
"Nope." He cocked his head curiously then flashed her another captivating grin. "I'm Peeta, the youngest Mellark."
"You're Rye's little brother?!" Katniss let out a strangled laugh as a bout of nervous energy suddenly overtook her. She was going to give Madge a very stern talking to later when she got home. When her friend and soon-to-be-ex-roommate had mentioned Rye's brothers were going to be in the wedding party, she'd apparently forgotten to include "hot has sin" in her list of descriptors with regards to the youngest Mellark, who was also much much older than she'd expected.
"Yep, and who said anything about being little?" The boyish smile he directed straight at her was charming yet unexpectedly wicked. "He may have a few inches on me, but I like to think size doesn't matter."
Another nervous laugh bubbled from her throat. Oh yeah, the guy may have had golden-boy written all over him but he also radiated pure sex appeal. And he damn well knew it.
"But in case you're not convinced," he continued in an easy-going drawl, "I have it on good account that I'm also the better Mellark…when it comes to what matters."
Katniss's eyebrows shot up to her hairline when his voice went husky at the word comes and her thighs clenched at the blatant innuendo. Considering she hadn't gotten laid in several long months, she let her body's unexpected reaction slide, chalking it up to pent up sexual frustration and the fact that for some reason a gorgeous guy was paying attention to her.
And it was good to know that cockiness was apparently another inherited trait the two brothers shared. She still couldn't fathom what her prim and proper friend saw in her fiancée. Rye Mellark was loud and crude and at times overly obnoxious, especially once he had a few beers in him and his internal filter was all but lost. The two were polar opposites, but then again, she had to admit the guy treated Madge like a queen, and it was kind of hard to ignore the love-sick look in his eyes whenever she was around.
A cheerful laugh snapped Katniss from her thoughts and she turned to the other blonde she'd completely forgotten about. "Stop it, Peeta! You're scaring the poor girl!" The woman turned her attention back to Katniss. "Don't mind him, he's all talk," she continued with a dismissive wave of her hand. "And usually much better behaved, I swear. So, from the looks of the bridesmaid dress there, I'm assuming you're in the wedding party?"
"Oh, right, yes." No longer able to manage the weight of all the things in her hands, she set her cup down on the table, but then lost hold of her bags and cringed when they fell to the floor in a heaping mess at her feet. Fighting a rush of embarrassment, she hastily gathered them up and glanced back over to the woman. "I'm Katniss, a friend of Madge."
"You're Madge's little friend?" Peeta interjected, playfully echoing her earlier words and leaning back in his chair as he brought his hands up to rest behind his head.
Jesus, the powerful biceps that poured from his sleeves had her momentarily dazed. Though the quick once over of her body didn't go unnoticed and she'd be lying if she said the appraising tilt of his head when he wet his lips and grinned didn't send a jolt of desire straight between her legs. What was the matter with her? Just a few minutes in this guy's presence and he already had her salivating like a pavlovian dog with each flash of that goddamn smile.
"Very funny," she mumbled, wrenching her eyes from his in a desperate attempt to keep her raging libido in check.
"Well, remind me to send my future sister-in-law flowers and a thank you card. I can't believe I get to walk a beautiful thing like you down the aisle."
Oh God, he was actually flirting with her? And Madge had partnered her up with him? Perhaps Karma wasn't a bitch after all. With all that charm and charisma, she couldn't help but wonder if he carried the character traits into the bedroom right along with him. Holy hell, why did every thought always lead to sex? She needed to get laid. Badly. One night stands weren't her style but shit, desperate times called for desperate measures and maybe a weekend fuck was exactly what she needed to snap her out of this dry spell. Maybe Madge had a hot cousin or something because as much as Peeta made her mouth water, he'd be off limits. She'd be breaking some sort of girl code if she indulged in this sudden urge of hers, wouldn't she? The guy was going to be Madge's brother in two days, so yeah, not a good idea.
Another round of bubbly laughter jerked Katniss from her internal debate. Shit. There she was, lusting over a guy she'd just met—Rye's brother for Chrissake—and for all she knew, him and blondie were together.
As if reading her unspoken thoughts, the woman suddenly piped up. "I'm Delly, by the way. Longstanding friend of the Mellark family and when needed, last minute stand-in plus one for weddings, bat mitzvahs, and the occasional charity event." She stuck out a hand that Katniss hesitantly shook.
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Delly answered, smiling brightly as she glanced back and forth between her and Peeta. "Well, the two of you will make quite the stunning couple at the wedding, if I do say so myself."
Katniss balked and the flush that had finally left her face returned with a vengeance.
"Jesus, Del, now look who's scaring her."
She glimpsed a flash of apology in Peeta's eyes and as if to further prove his point, he shot his friend a pointed look before turning his attention back to Katniss. "So you'll be at the rehearsal dinner tomorrow, right?" She swallowed thickly and nodded, earning her another one of those easy smiles. "Good, can you save me a seat then? I have to pick up the grooms cake from the bakery after the rehearsal so I'll probably be a little late."
Crap. The rehearsal dinner. She still needed to pick up Madge's rehearsal dress from the dry cleaners before heading back. And she had to pick up Johanna from the airport that afternoon as well, which meant a trip to the liquor store so their feisty friend wouldn't drink them out of house and home.
"Yeah, no problem," Katniss said as she struggled to pull her cell phone from her purse and glanced at the screen. "Sorry, but I need to get going. I have to be at the airport in three hours and I still have a ton of stuff to do."
Peeta was on his feet before she could put away her phone, his broad frame looming over hers as he reached for her bags. "Your hands are full, let me help you to your car."
Somewhat flustered by his sudden bout of chivalry, she eyed him carefully. "Uh, thanks but I've got it."
"You sure?" he asked, grabbing her cup off the table.
"Yeah, I've got this." As if to further prove her point, she fished out her keys, rearranged her bags, and reached out to take her drink. "Thanks."
Katniss suddenly felt nervous as an awkward silence fell between them, but then he pursed his lips and nodded. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then. It was nice to finally meet you, Katniss."
"Same," she answered, cringing at the breathy desperation in her voice. After sparing him a final terse nod, she forced her feet to move and focused on navigating her way through the crowd towards the door. Just a few more steps and she'd be outside where she could finally breathe and collect her thoughts.
"Katniss, wait!" Her body tensed when a warm hand landed on her shoulder and she jerked her head in the direction of his voice. "I think this is yours."
Her cheeks flushed with heat at the sight of the small pink and black bag in his hand. Fuck. When had she dropped it? Her breath hitched when she glanced up to find those blue eyes staring back at her, a hint of amusement causing the corner of his mouth to rise. They stared at each other for longer than necessary, but when she didn't make a move to take the bag from him, he lifted it closer to her, effectively snapping her out of the trance she'd fallen into.
Clearing her throat, she managed a quick "thanks" and reached out to retrieve the bag from his grasp. The moment his hand brushed over hers, a shot of warmth blasted through her and she let out a shaky exhale. Shit. She needed to get out of there before she did something stupid, like make a fool of herself a second time. Turning back to the door, she let out a heavy sigh. But the sound of that goddamn sexy voice of his stopped her dead in her tracks again.
"Oh, and this too." His eyes gleamed recklessly as he held up the lacy orange thong, dangling it off the end of his thick finger.
Shit. Shit shit shit. This was not happening. Could her face get any redder? Apparently so. If there really was a merciful God, he'd open the ground up beneath her feet and let it swallow her whole. Mortified beyond belief, she rushed forward and snatched the sorry excuse for an undergarment off his finger and shoved it into her bag.
A rush of dizziness hit her when he leaned in close, the intoxicating scent of cinnamon wafting over her. Man, he smelled good enough to eat. How was she going to stay sane over the next two days if she was supposed to be paired up with him? She fought back a moan when his warm breath puffed against her ear.
"By the way," he whispered as she sucked in a ragged breath. "Orange is my favorite color."
And with that, he spun on his heel and sauntered back his table, her eyes glued to his trim hips and tight ass the whole way there.
Damn. His brazen confession should have sent her running out the door in a flustered mess, but the heat that filled her cheeks was far from innocent. And she wasn't even a damn bit ashamed as a plan suddenly took shape in her head. Screw girl code, she was going to get herself laid. Unable to keep from grinning like an idiot, she pushed her way through the door and took a sip of her now not-so-hot hot chocolate.
Little did he know, but Peeta Mellark was in for a surprise.
Author's Note: This story was posted on tumblr over a year ago and was inspired by an anonymous prompt I received asking for an Everlark coffeeshop drabble which of course spiraled into WAY more than anyone asked for :) There are three parts, all of which have now been completed and the remaining parts posted shortly. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Reviews and feedback are always welcome! Thanks for taking the time to read and hope you enjoy this one!
As always, you can find me over on tumblr: pookieh