The vision of Jonah blocked into a corner by two young women while he held firmly onto his beer bottle looking visibly tense amused the hell out of Astrid. This was so not his scene. He liked bars where you were left alone, or hang out with the guys to play pool or darts. He was a local boy through and through. The two girls surrounding him were very much city and enjoyed the game of hard-to-get that he didn't realize he was playing.

She thought about rescuing him. If she passed for his girlfriend earlier, Astrid could do so again, but it was funnier to leave him to his own non-existent devices. That, and she was now free to roam the crowds.

Anya's guitar played that slow, seductive rhythm that she promised, and had done so many times, but Astrid was waiting for the right guy to approach her. So far, all she'd received was a couple of lazy come-ons.

As if the heavens heard her, Astrid noticed a tall, dark and handsome show up at her side, staring ahead with two drinks in his hands. "I'm Max."

He still wasn't looking at her, his eyes remaining on her friend's band.

"That's... nice."

"Now's the part where you tell me your name." His voice came out deep and like butter. Not the butter in the center of the table that turns out to have just come from the fridge and you can't butter your roll with that nonsense, but like room temperature butter that slides on every so easily.

"And why's that?" Astrid asked, trying her best to play coy.

Tall, dark and handsome Max let out a quiet, easy laugh. "Don't you think we should exchange names before we get married?"

He was good. Sublime, even, but Astrid wasn't sure whether to give in, only for Jonah to appear and shoot it all to hell. "When's the wedding?"

"Two weeks from today," he answered matter-of-factly.

Astrid slowly nodded at the man. She enjoyed this subtle charm rather than the cocky confidence she'd been experiencing that night. "So soon. Am I pregnant or something?"

"There'll be talk that it's a shot-gun wedding, but honestly we're just so in love that we didn't see the point in waiting."

Max was so casual, she wondered how many times he'd tried this approach. Either way, it worked well for him. "Well, you aren't a local, so I'm not sure how long the marriage will last long distance."

Finally, Max looked over at her, his dark brown eyes almost looking black. "What makes you think I'm not a local?"

"We can smell our own."

"This guy bothering you?" Jonah asked as he magically showed up by her side.

Anya had it dead-on when she called him a cock blocker.

Her eyes returned to Handsome Max. "I'm not sure yet."

"When I asked the bartender what you were drinking, he told me this guy's ordered you a couple of these," he said while extending out one of drinks, "and said that he guessed you guys weren't on a date, so I figured I'd take a chance."

Astrid accepted the drink with a smile that could no longer be held back. Jonah had switched her to water about an hour ago, but she was ready for another. "Jonah, this is my future husband, Max. Max, this is my friend, Jonah."

Max held out his hand to shake, then quickly dropped it when Jonah made no move to accept it. Even with the awkwardness heavy in the air, Max flashed her a bashful grin. "Still haven't gotten my wife's name."

"Not interested," Jonah answered for her.

Astrid turned to him and glared him down. His intentions were noble enough, but this was exactly why he wasn't invited to hang out with her second group of friends. "You promised me."

"I said no promises," Jonah corrected, "which is the exact opposite."

This was why they'd kept their love lives private all these years. The reason was now clear as day. It was just a part of themselves they were never meant to share in their friendship.

She shook her head and turned her attention back to Max. "Do you want to dance?"

After looking back and forth between them a few times, Max nodded. "Yeah."

"Great." Astrid handed Jonah her drink. "Do me a favor and avoid being a kill-joy asshole for five minutes."

She didn't wait for a response before grabbing Max's hand and leading him out to where the others were dancing. Once Astrid moved to the sound of the music playing, Max joined along, albeit more awkwardly.

"Is that guy going to kill me?"

Astrid glanced over to see Jonah with his arms crossed in front of his chest, no longer holding the drink she handed him, and burning a hole through the back of Max's head. "I don't think so. The worst he's ever done is beat the shit out of a boyfriend. But that was a long time ago."

He took a single step back, creating some distance between their bodies. "He's kind of scaring the crap out of me."

It appeared Jonah had won yet again, even keeping his distance. "Just ignore him and dance with your future wife, will you?" The comment she expected to make him smile only caused a flinch. "If you want to go, that's fine."

Max's eyes moved to hers, and his lips pursed together in a fine line. He just stood there for solid thirty seconds, risked another glance at Jonah, then disappeared into the heavy crowd.

Maybe your dream guy is in there and I'll scare him away from you before he ever has a chance to even learn your name.

The comment Jonah made an hour prior was more accurate than she ever could have imagined. She wasn't sure if he was her dream guy. Realistically, he probably wasn't. Her dream guy wouldn't have scared so easily. But he was right that Jonah scared Max away before he ever learned her name.

As Astrid continued to dance all by her lonesome, she thought about all the times back in high school where Jonah had done the same thing. The issue was, she knew very well how to protect herself. Men raised her. She could throw a hard hit if need be.

It wasn't his job to protect her like this, especially from things she didn't need protection from. Astrid was an adult now. It was her job to protect herself, and she was up to the task.

"I'm sorry."

Despite his voice sounding heavier than normal, Astrid still knew it was his and didn't bother turning around. "No, you aren't."

"No," Jonah agreed, "but I wish I was." He turned her around and forced Astrid to face him. "The guy who deserves to be with you is the guy that isn't going to run away at the first sign of trouble. And I plan on challenging every guy I meet who's interested in you until he challenges me right back."

It was as if he'd ripped the thoughts from her mind and displayed them for Astrid to feel once again. It was easy to be mad as Jonah. Despite their friendship and him being in her life since forever, they fought plenty. Yet it was impossible to stay mad at him.

"Since no other guy here will dance with me tonight after that scene, that means you have to."

Jonah looked around, only seeming to now notice he was in the middle of a crowd of people dancing. It was a slowish song playing now, but not a sexual one like the others had been. "I don't dance."

"Tough shit," Astrid told him, then placed her hands on his shoulders, continuing to sway to the beat.

After nearly a half a minute of her dancing, Jonah finally joined her. "You called me an asshole."

"I call 'em like I see 'em," Astrid replied dryly.

Jonah tugged her closer while they danced, which was fine since the amount of distance between the two was awkward. "He was a player, Astrid. I'd watched the guy with three other girls before you and strike out."

Astrid's shoulders drooped and her lips pressed together tightly. It wasn't like she expected some cosmic connection with the guy, but still felt a flutter of disappointment. "Why were you watching him?"

"He reminded me of myself at his age, back when I thought seduction was a fun challenge to pass the time."

When she looked around, Astrid spotted Max in the corner already chatting up the next girl. It wasn't heartbreaking or anything. He was good looking and charming, but there were another dozen guys just like him in this place alone.

"The right guy for you will only see you, Astrid. He'll fumble over his words because being so close to you will cause him to forget how to speak. And those words are going to be awkward, because you've turned him into a bumbling idiot. He will stand his ground, because walking away from you isn't an option. And when he says 'I love you' for the first time, he isn't going to just walk away because you didn't say it back. He's going to work twice as hard to earn your heart because he couldn't imagine living his life without you.

"Until that guy comes along, I'm going to right here keeping players the hell away from you, because you are worth so much more than a fun challenge."