She sends Peeta a very blunt text message, that same night, about not meeting him to run the next morning.
K: "Sorry to text so late. I can't run in the morning."
Then she turns off her phone and crawls under the covers where she promptly falls into a beer induced sleep.
Her sleep is deep and dreamless. When she wakes several hours later, her mouth is predictably dry and her head aches slightly. It's not the worst she's ever felt after a night out, but she is still glad she's not heading out on a run this morning. She's even more glad that she doesn't have to face Peeta, she thinks.
As if on cue, her phone chimes with a new message.
P: "Just saw this. Everything ok?"
"Argggghhh" Katniss groans. Why does he have to be so understanding and sweet about it? It only makes it harder for her to cut things off with him.
K: "Fine. Just drank too much beer last night."
His response is immediate.
P: "lol Well maybe a run later on today then?"
K: "Probably not"
This time, she waits several minutes before his response comes.
P: "K; Feel better."
….
It's like ripping off a band-aid, she tells herself. The less she sees Peeta, the less chance she will fall back under his easy charm. He's so easy to like; Too easy to like.
So even though she missed her run altogether on Saturday, and barely made it two miles when she tried to run alone on Sunday and Monday, she makes a conscious decision to skip running club on Tuesday.
She knows by now that Peeta must be wondering what is going on with her evasiveness. But she's still not ready to face him. She tries not to think about how she might be purposely avoiding him; because the longer she avoids Peeta, the longer she avoids having to tell him that there can't be anything between them.
….
Joanna, for one, is on to her.
"Talked to bread boy lately?" she asks when she corners Katniss at work the next morning.
"Not really," Katniss says, shrugging.
Joanna rolls her eyes, visibly annoyed with Katniss' response.
"So what, he gives you the best kiss of your life and now you're just going to avoid him for the rest of eternity?" Joanna asks.
"I never said it was…" Katniss begins to murmur, but Joanna cuts her off.
"Whatever brainless. It was written all over your face."
Katniss flushes deeply. It was the best kiss of her life. That's probably why she can't stop dreaming about it in her sleep.
"Listen" Joanna continues. "You know I love you. But I'm not going to stand around and watch you ruin this on purpose. You either talk to him about what's going on in that pretty little head of yours—or I will."
Katniss sighs, resigned. Joanna is right: she can't hide from Peeta forever. It's probably not what Joanna is hoping for, but Katniss can at least give him an explanation. She decides she will talk to him at running club Thursday night.
…..
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Gale teases her when Katniss comes through the door at The Hob early on Thursday afternoon. "Haven't seen you all week. Thought you might still be hung-over."
"I've been busy," Katniss counters, shooting him a look that says he should drop it.
"Busy avoiding Peeta?" Gale asks, raising one eyebrow.
"No. Maybe. I don't know," Katniss mumbles, suddenly becoming extremely interested in scratching at a rough spot on her elbow.
"You know," Gale says, suddenly becoming more serious, "if you're playing hard to get, it's working. But if you're not, then you should knock it off now because he's seriously confused."
Katniss' head snaps up and she looks Gale in the eye. "What do you mean?" she asks, her voice betraying exactly how much it bothers her that Peeta might be upset by her recent actions.
"I mean, Catnip, that he looked like a lost puppy in here on Tuesday when you didn't show up," Gales says.
"Did he say anything?" she asks.
"No, but I did," Gale quips, turning to toss the rag he's been holding into the sink behind the bar.
"Gale, what?!" she can hear her voice rising several octaves but she can't stop the sound of desperation.
Gale holds up his hand, palm out in the universal symbol that means "stop."
"All I said was that he should give you some time to come around," Gale says, his voice softening.
Katniss nods wordlessly.
"Talk to him, Catnip," Gale tells her, giving her one last pointed look before he turns and heads toward the back room.
"I will," Katniss says, her voice barely above a whisper.
….
But she chickens out. Peeta must be running slightly late today because most of the other runners are already warmed up and ready to head out when she sees his jeep pull into the parking lot. Before she can stop herself, Katniss takes off with the first wave of runners, not even glancing back to see Peeta make his way through the front doors of The Hob.
It's been a week since she really ran, and if she's being honest with herself that isn't the only reason she's running a bit more slowly than usual. It shouldn't surprise her when he catches up to her easily after only a mile.
"Katniss," he says, coming up on her left side and slowing his pace to fall in beside her.
"Hey Peeta," she says, not even daring to look over at him.
"I haven't seen you all week. How is everything?" he asks, and she hates that she can hear the caution in his voice.
"Fine," she says shortly. She blows an audible puff of air between her lips, effectively displacing a wisp of hair that has come undone from her braid and keeps landing across her face, between her eyes.
"Great," he says, but there is an edge of annoyance to his normally easy demeanor.
They run along silently for a while before he tries again.
"Can I ask you something?" he questions, his voice is mild, but tight.
"Sure," she says, but even she can hear how stiff she sounds. It's like they've gone back weeks.
"Did I upset you somehow?" he asks.
"No," she says shortly, and it takes everything in her to not look at him now. Just one glimpse of his warm blue eyes will be her undoing, and she knows it.
As if in answer to her own inner thoughts, she increases her pace slightly. But he isn't willing to let it go that easily.
"Katniss," he says, putting his hand on her arm and stopping her in the middle of the street. "What are you running from?"
She finally looks him in the eyes and it throws her emotions for a loop, just as she knew it would. "I…I…" she stammers, her resolve crumbling.
"Is this about the kiss?" he asks, those deep, ocean blue eyes piercing her very soul with sincerity.
She shakes herself free from the grip of his soul-searching eyes, glancing just above his right shoulder and taking a deep breath to steady herself before she answers.
"Look, let's just forget about it," she says coolly.
"Well, that's the problem," Peeta says, and his voice has become thicker with emotion. "I don't want to forget."
Then he turns and jogs away, back toward The Hob, leaving Katniss standing in the middle of the road feeling even more unsettled ever.