Peeta sighed and ran a hand through his blond curls. Two hours. Two hours he had been here, ass planted on a barstool while girl after girl passed through, giving some cliché backstory while they ogled over him.
Daddy issues. That's all Peeta saw in these women. They grazed his thigh with their hands and told him what they'd do with him if he agreed to come back to their place. Seriously, who had raised them to believe that such things were appropriate at an event like this? At this point, though, he was unfazed by all of it. He had spent one too many nights waiting up for someone just right - someone he knew would never come. Speed dating was a common occurrence for him (every Wednesday, in fact, for the bar's weekly "Rapid Romance" night), because who had time to actually bump into a stranger and get to know them over coffee? That only happened in movies, he had decided a long time ago, when he had met a woman at a party, concluded he was in love, and then had promptly walked in on her with another man in bed a week later. In his bed. In his house.
So when there was a lull in the stream of desperate sluts hoping for a good time, he grabbed his wallet and headed for the door of the bar.
"Hey!" Peeta heard from behind him. "I thought I was your next?"
Rolling his eyes, Peeta turned around to confront the forlorn woman.
He was met with a set of piercing grey eyes and a smirking pair of lips. Her hair cascaded down across her shoulders in silky, dark waves, across smooth, olive-skinned shoulders. Her strong legs ended in a pair of perfectly manicured feet wearing bright red wedge heels, and her skin-tight black dress left little to the imagination. This woman was far from forlorn. She was gorgeous, sexy, the most amazing girl he had ever seen.
Peeta realized he was staring, and quickly averted his eyes from hers.
"Well?" The woman continued. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
He couldn't force any words from his mouth. This woman knew the effect she had on him, seemed to be familiar with it.
Finally Peeta straightened his shoulders and blinked several times. "I was just about to leave. These things never work out for me."
The goddess before him pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and widening her eyes. "That's no fun," she said to him. "Can you stay a little while longer?"
"W-Why?" Peeta stuttered, perplexed as to why this beauty would want him to stay. There were dozens of other men in this bar. All of whom were outright gawking at her.
She approached him. "Well," she stated, taking his arm. He nearly shivered at her touch. "You're pretty cute, and you seem like you deserve so much more than what these skanks are offering you."
He nodded, barely, and said, "But I think our minute is up." Really? That was the best he could come up with to say to such a beautiful woman that was obviously flirting with him?
She laughed, the most melodious sound he had ever heard. "Well then, I guess you'll just have to buy me a drink, won't you?"
He nodded. Again. Ugh, he was screwing this whole thing up. This was going to be a long night if he didn't loosen up a little.
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It was nearly two in the morning, and Peeta lay in bed, love-struck. Katniss. What a beautiful name. He had left her at the bar an hour earlier. He was hesitant, but he needed to, er, take care of himself before she saw.
Now he sighed. Thinking about her brought on all sorts of images, none of which he needed in his head right now. Especially not about a girl that he had just met that night.
