Hi everyone!

Ugh, I am so so sorry it took so long to upload this one. I'm doing my HSC at the moment and since here in Australia, our HSC score is the only thing that counts for uni admissions, I've been having to put my school work first. It won't be finishing anytime soon, unfortunately, so I probably won't be updating as often as I'd like. But rest assured, I'm not giving up on this story and I will, if belatedly, keep posting new chapters!

Thank you to everyone for reading/alerting/favouriting/reviewing. Especially reviewing – it's great to know what you guys think and if you enjoy it and what areas I can improve on :)

Here is Two Can Play At That Game, hope you enjoy it :)

I'm sitting here, watching them, trying not to puke. It's disgusting.

"Aww, Peety-baby, your arms are so strong," says Johanna, her voice laced with lust.

"Yeah, it's from the bakery. Years of throwing all those flour sacks around," says Peeta, smiling.

"Lucky sacks," says Johanna, winking. She and Peeta start laughing, at which point I actually do gag. They both look up at me, as if realizing for the first time I'm in the room. I try and pass it off as a cough, but they don't look too convinced.

"Peeta, it's getting kinda late. Maybe we could head out, go to a club or something?" says Johanna.

Stupid Johanna. Stupid, perfect, ridiculously sexy Johanna. Why did she have to come visit, anyway? She had plenty of other cousins to go victimize, but no, she had to go and choose the humble abode of the Everdeen family.

It's kind of funny, actually, watching her trying to flirt with Peeta. I know him much better than she does – there is no way he'd go out on a date with a girl he's only just met.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun!" says Peeta.

Ugh.

They're heading towards the door when they seem to remember, once again, that I'm in the room.

"Oh, Katniss, did you want to come along as well?" says Johanna.

I notice her lips mouthing me a less-than-subtle 'no'. I see Peeta helping her into her jacket. I see that this is a date.

So there's only one thing I can say.

"Sure! Just let me get changed!" I say perkily.

Johanna glares at me as I race out of the room, feeling pretty damn pleased with myself. No one was going to have a successful date with Peeta Mellark on my watch.

I run straight to my dresser and pull out the big guns. The teeny-tiny black leather dress I'd used as a Catwoman costume for Halloween last year, Prim's social-experiment fishnets and Mom's stilettos from her youth. I tousle my hair and put on some makeup. I check myself out in the mirror and feel very satisfied.

I strut back into the living room.

"Let's get out of here," I say casually.

The two of them stare at me for some time, rendered speechless by my attire.

"Oh, um, wow, Katniss, you look really good," says Peeta, eventually.

"Thanks, Peeta," I say, and walk to towards the door. "And those aren't my eyes," I say with a wink, as I walk past him.

Johanna glares at me malevolently. Good.

We arrive at the club. At first I'm a bit overwhelmed – it's my first time in a place like this, and the deafening music and grinding bodies are a bit much to handle. But when I see that Johanna has lead Peeta away to the bar, I remember I'm on a mission, and follow them over there.

"Two martinis," Peeta is saying.

"Sex on the beach for me," I say.

The two of them look at me, Peeta a little nonplussed, Johanna looking malicious. I wink at them and scull my drink, relishing in the calm it brings upon me.

"Woah, Katniss!"

I turn to my right to see the source of the interjection. It's Cray, a boy from my class at school. I'm about to turn away from him in discust – he's a player and a sleaze – when I get an idea.

Jealousy. Envy. All too easy to create. Extremely powerful when produced in high quantities. This is exactly what I need right now.

"Hey Cray," I say in the most seductive voice I can manage. I turn my body so I'm facing him squarely, just like Prim always insists I do with good-looking guys.

He sees my empty glass.

"What's your drink?"

"Sex on the beach."

"Is that an invitation?" he says seedily.

"You wish," I say, slapping him playfully on the shoulder.

This time, it's Peeta's turn to gag.

I turn around and smile at him smugly.

"Something wrong, Peeta?" I ask innocently.

"Nothing, nothing at all," he says, shooting daggers at Cray.

I lean into his ear.

"Well, that means there's no reason to interrupt Cray and me. Isn't he hot?" I whisper.

"Katniss, can we have a chat? Alone?"

"Fine," I shrug, curious. Could my plan be working already?

Peeta leads us to a quiet corner of the club.

"Katniss, what are you doing?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm respirating. Later I might even try pumping a bit of blood around my veins."

"Oh, shut up. Stop being a smartass. What are you doing with Cray?"

At that moment, Cray fittingly looks up at us and I give him a flirty wave. Once he's looked down, I turn face-on to Peeta.

"Well, he's a guy. I'm a girl. He's hot. I'm attracted to him. Got a problem with that?"

I frown at him, daring him to challenge me.

"No," he says coldly, and walks back to Johanna.

Damn.

I spot a table in the middle of the room, a pole coming out of it and into the ceiling. I know immediately what it's for. An idea hits my mind, and at first I'm against it. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

So I do it.

I climb up onto the table. I'm a bit shaky at first – the stilettos are a nightmare to balance on – but eventually I get the hang of it. I try and move my body like I've seen in the movies. The crowd begins to cheer. I'm feeling pretty damn sexy.

"Come on boys, who wants Katniss?" I shout to the crowd. The cheering is almost deafening. I'm feeling satisfied – if this doesn't make Peeta jealous, I don't know what will.

I survey the crowd. I see Johanna, glaring rancorously at me. I see Cray, who's looking at me seedily, licking his lips. I think I also see Mr Sae, my math teacher, and Mr Hawthorne, Gale's dad. Shit. Apparently the whole male population of the town has seen this.

Except, apparently, Peeta.

I can't see him anywhere, but the click of the door gives him away. He's gone.

I wave goodbye to the crowd and step back down onto the ground. I start heading for the door, but apparently the world is working against me today.

"Katniss! It's nice to see you!"

It's Mayor Undersee. My best friend Madge's dad. Crap.

"Hi, Mayor Undersee," I say as perkily as I can manage.

"That was quite an enthusiastic dance you did up there," he says.

"Yes, well, I am in training for my next ballet exam," I say, blushing.

He ignores me. He's clearly here with a purpose.

"Katniss, I know it's perfectly natural for you to be experiencing feelings of a sexual nature. But I'm not sure that oscillating your hips in such an erotic manner for all the town to see is the best idea. Now, as Mayor, I feel it my responsibility to guide the young people of this town successfully through adolescence and into adulthood, so I have some alternative suggestions for you."

"Well, Mayor Undersee, thank you but that really isn't nec-"

He pulls a list out of his pocket, and cuts me short as he begins to recite:

"1. Watch some pornographic films with your Mom and Dad, so they can explain to you what's going on. 2. Purchase some erotica novels and pose any questions you have to your parents or another trusted adult. 3. Go along to a cat- or dog-breeding session and take notes."

He's not finished yet. From the look of his list, he'll be going for days. So I interrupt him and bid him adieu as politely as I can, and all but sprint out the door.

Peeta's there, standing by the door. He's staring at the cracks in the pavement

"I thought you'd left," I say. Peeta looks up at me and sighs.

"I wouldn't leave you, Katniss," he says coldly.

"What's up with you?"

"Katniss, what the hell were you thinking? Dancing like that, leading Cray on?"

"I'm sorry, Peeta, if I want to express my emotions through dance!"

"It's not you, Katniss! Where's the Katniss I love, the one who's shy to wear less than a t-shirt in public, the one who's never looked at a boy for as long as I can remember?"

A strange feeling overcomes me when he says the word 'love'.

"You love me?" I ask shyly.

"As a friend," he says, quickly.

I sigh.

"Walk me home?" I ask.

"Sure," he says, smiling.

He takes my hand and we walk back to my house in silence.

All in all, not a bad day's work.

Please review! :)