Even before he’d hooked up with our foster sister, Ani—yeah, that happened—he’d rarely made much of an effort to date, and he would never in a million years go out with a woman sight unseen. Abraham and I were opposites in almost every way, and if he knew just how many blind dates I’d gone on in the past few years, he’d shit his pants. Bram would rather have a root canal then spend the evening making small talk with a stranger.

By the time I pulled up in front of the steak house and parked my truck, exhaustion was hitting me hard. It had been a long week, and for the first time in a long time, I dreaded making nice with someone I didn’t know. Usually I was up for anything, but damn, I was tired.

I forced myself toward the entrance of the restaurant and pulled open the front door, smiling politely when I caught sight of Sean and his date waiting for their table.

“Hey, Alex,” Sean called in greeting, even though we’d already made eye contact and he’d wiggled his eyebrows. “This is Hailey.”

“Hi, Hailey.” I smiled wide, making Sean’s expression flatten as he stepped a little closer to her. “Nice to meet you.”

I always did that—grinned real big and stared directly into the eyes of my friend’s date. You could tell a lot about a person during a first impression, and I always knew from that initial look if a woman was into my friend.

I was good-looking and I knew it. Tan skin, even white teeth, and eyelashes that annoyingly flicked against the lenses of my sunglasses. As far as I was concerned, it was a freak of genetics that didn’t really matter, but I still used it to my advantage when I could. I wasn’t stupid. Currently I was using those freak genetics to charm my friend’s girl.

When Hailey tilted her head toward Sean just slightly, I relaxed a little. When she laughed at his reaction I relaxed more.

“Nice to meet you, Alex,” she said, grinning. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course,” I said, like I hadn’t been thinking about a reason to bail for the last hour. I looked around the area we were standing in but didn’t see her friend. “Am I making this a third-wheel situation?”

“No.” Hailey shook her head and grimaced a little.

“Her friend’s running late,” Sean said, just as the hostess called his name. “She said she’ll be here as soon as she can, though.”

I nodded and shrugged. The place smelled damn good as we made our way through the tables, and my stomach growled, reminding me that I’d missed lunch. I eyeballed the sushi being prepared, and my mouth watered.