Bet

As I got off the bed and started towards the door I couldn't help but notice Peeta's chiseled torso. All those hours he forced Haymitch and me to train paid off for him as well. He seemed too perfectly sculpted to be real. I had this sudden urge to touch his chest and map out every indentation between his muscles with my fingers. He caught me staring but didn't say anything. Probably because he knew any mention of it would embarrass me and he didn't want me to get angry. I went to his room and picked out some clothes for him to wear for the day. We would be at the Capital in two days and Effie had each day planned out all entailed with prepping us on what to expect once we arrived.

When I returned back to my room Peeta was sitting on my bed. The towel wrapped around his waist the slit between his legs. Now I think he is trying to make me uneasy on purpose. He is not going to succeed this time. I am going to play my own little game. As I shut the door I inform him if he wanted his clothes he is going to have to get them away from me. He jumps off the bed and reaches for the clothes that are in my right hand but I am too quick and moved them behind my back. He reaches again and barely misses his clothes as I move them in front of me. Deciding to cut straight to the chase and Peeta grabs me up in his arms.

"I have them now"

"No you don't. You have me." I giggle.

"Still counts"

"Does not" I shout while squirming to get out of his grasp, but his hold is firm yet gentle around me. All the commotion loosened the towel around Peeta's waist and it dropped to the ground. I froze starting at his face. Realizing that he was naked and there was nothing to shield me from the sight of his body. His face held a cocky grin. My eyes started to involuntarily move down from his face towards his chest and when they ventured further down. As his member came into view is when Effie opened the door to my room.

"Why I never!" she exclaimed. "This is not appropriate behavior for a victor. I expect you both in the dining car in fifteen minutes for breakfast."

After she closed the door all we could hear was her angrily huffing all the way down the hall. The laughs between us were uncontrollable. Until I realized I was still in his arms lifted in the air. He didn't move me an inch during the whole ordeal, probably because I was only object between Effie's and his naked body. As he slowly started to bring me to my feet I couldn't look him in the eyes or look down so I turned my head to the side.

"Here" I replied disconcertedly as I pushed his clothes into his chest. He couldn't stop laughing as he took them from me and headed for the bathroom. I immediately went to my dresser to gather clothes realizing I didn't want to reface him again until I had to. Ugh! He makes me so angry laughing at me like that. I decide my best bet is to leave my room and go to his room to shower. When I am half way done with my shower I hear Peeta calling my name.

"Go away Peeta" I yell.

"Come on Katniss. Don't be mad at me. I couldn't help but to laugh. You should have seen your face."

"Go away" I yell louder.

"You agreed we could be friends."

"I don't know any more Peeta maybe it's not a good idea. We already got in trouble with Effie." I felt a hollowness in the pit of my stomach when I said it. Truly it's not what I want but the closer we get the more awkward I feel. Still, I did promise that I would try to give Peeta whatever he wanted before we went back into the arena. I called out to him, but he was no longer there. I got dressed and went to breakfast. Peeta was next to Haymitch with a melancholy expression. His eyes didn't even come up to meet mine when I entered the dining cart.

Haymitch seemed to be his normal hostile self. "It's about time, sweetheart. What did you do to pretty boy here? You guys are going to have to start playing nice before you go back into the arena. How do expect to get you any sponsors acting like this!"

"I don't know what you're talking about Haymitch. Peeta and I are fine maybe you did something to upset him." I went and sat down next to Peeta on the couch and gave him a nudge with my shoulder.

"So Peeta what are you in the dumps for? You can tell your good friend Katniss." I placed emphasis on the word friend while giving him a wink. His head shot up and eyes grew wide while looking into mine, but never missed a beat.

"So Haymitch I can't believe you don't remember what you said to me?" Peeta went on.

"What you came in with that puppy dog sad look on your face. I didn't cause it." Haymitch replied.

"No I didn't. I was cheerful ten minutes ago until you drunkenly lashed out on me."

"All righty then, what did I say that hurt you so badly?" Haymitch was staring to get angry. He leaned back while he took another drink of the clear liquid he just poured into his tea cup.

"It was to insulting to repeat out of this pretty boy mouth." Peeta snickered.

That was too much for Haymitch. He looked confused and his face was starting to turn red. "You know I will just take my breakfast in my room." He stomped off while holding the bottle and his tea cup out of the dinning cart.

Peeta was staring at me. "So you changed your mind? We can still be friends." His eyes weary wondering if my show in the dining cart was an act.

"Yes. I did say I would allow us to spend time together before the Quell" I smiled.

We spent the rest of the day with Effie and Haymitch. Haymitch made us pay for the irritation we caused him earlier. We had to watch the other tributes games and take notes on their fighting styles. It was starting to get late and I feel a sleep on Peeta's shoulder during the seventh game video. Instead of waking me to go to my room he swept me up in his arms and carried me to bed. Once he laid me down, he took off my shoes and was just finished covering me up when he started to walk away that's when I took his hand.

"Stay with me. You know you're going to end up in here later anyways."

"I always want to be with you, but are you sure? I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable anymore and you change your mind again."

"I'm sure." I let go of his hand and scooted over to make room for him. He climbed into the bed and I placed my head on his chest in the same spot I have done so many times before. I never realized before that my body fits so well next to his, like interlocking pieces of a puzzle. His hand went to start stroking my hair.

"Is this okay?" Peeta asked with hesitation in his voice.

"Yes it feels nice."

"How about when I do this" He moved his hand from my head to my back and started to rub down towards the hem of my shirt and back up.

A sigh escaped my lips. "If I am being honest, I like that too."

"So can we be honest right now? If so, I want to say I am sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry that I teased you to the point that you got angry with me. It's just the facial expressions you made. They started off curious but then you got embarrassed which lead to you getting heated and mad. I found it quite entertaining and not to mention adorable."

Out of all the reactions he mentioned I was caught up on one in particular. "What do you mean curious? Curious about what? I just don't like being teased. I bet if the roles were reversed and I was the one flaunting my nakedness you would act the same way." I shouted as I sat up on the bed.

"I'm pretty sure I could take it."

What did I just say? I want to put Peeta in his place and I am pretty sure he would lose it if he saw me naked, but could I really strip down out of my clothes in front of him? It's not like I haven't been naked in front of anyone else before. Sure my mother, Prim and my stylist team. However, to be naked in front of Peeta and keep a straight face?

Can I do it? Yes I have to. It is time to switch the rolls I am tired of being the pun of his jokes.

"Are you willing to make a bet on that?" I ask.

"Ya sure" he replied while placing both hands behind his back nonchalantly like he is entirely sure that I will not follow through.

"What are you willing to bet?" I prodded.

"Whatever you want, you can have"

"Ok. I want you to do whatever I want, when I ask it, no matter what." I hoped I could use the bet later in the games to help save Peeta's life.

"Sure no problem, can we lie down now I am getting quite tired."

He didn't even tell me what he wanted if he won the bet. He thinks he knows me so well and that I would never go through with it. I moved from the bed and stepped a few feet away. It was one thing to do what I was doing, another to do it in close proximity. Peeta must have thought I was turning off the light because he lowered his arms and started shifting to the other side of the bed to give me room to lie next to him. He didn't even realize that I was undressing until after I already had my pants off.

Once he turned to my way his face went into complete shock. I couldn't help to give a little giggle. His eyes were fixated on me and I started to feel a little apprehensive, but I was determined to make him feel uneasy instead. It wasn't easy when the look he was giving me changed from shock to a more lustrous one. I exhaled a deep breath and grabbed the hem of my shirt and lifted it above my head. I could hear Peeta's breathing get heavier his eyes passionately staring at me. When he finally was able to gain composure of himself he moved from laying on the bed to a sitting positon and started to speak.

"Katniss you don't" he started but I shushed him from continuing. I was down to my bra and underwear in the middle of the room about five feet from the bed. Without thinking though my body again betrayed me. It started to move closer towards Peeta like he was a magnetic force drawing me in. I placed my hands around the elastic of my underwear that was made of lace. I didn't understand the need for such material it didn't provide much coverage or why my stylist always assured that my underwear and bra matched. I led them down towards my ankles and stepped out of them. When I moved my hands to my chest towards the clasp of my bra I heard a gasp from Peeta's mouth. Once it was unhooked I let it rest along the sides of my breasts. I wiggled my shoulders until the bra slid off my arms and onto the floor. At this moment I realized that I was only within inches of Peeta. I am pretty sure he stopped breathing. The bulge in his pants grew and was throbbing against the fabric of his shorts. I didn't know how much longer I could stand so close to him. I didn't feel as embarrassed as I thought I would, but I did want to run. The electricity between us was intense. His gaze on me made the area in between my legs start to heat and feel moist. This needed to end soon.

"So did I win the bet?"

All Peeta could do was nod his head. I was shocked on how much enjoyment I was getting out of this. I gathered up my clothes and went to the bathroom to put them back on. When I came back out Peeta was still sitting on the bed looking dazed. I turned off the light, crawled up in the bed, smiled and went to sleep.