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He hoped this didn’t turn into Liz taking advantage of him again.
“I am, much to her annoyance.”
“Good,” Tate said.
“What’s so good about it?” he asked.
“That she doesn’t want it. The last thing you want is a woman that needs you around all the time and expects you to do everything for her. No one is happy in the end. Not the woman because you can’t give her what she wants anyway since she has no clue. And not the man who does everything asked of him and it’s still not enough.”
Christian had no idea it had been that bad for Tate. “Dude, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Tate said, picking his beer up. The server brought his out and they ordered their burgers. When the server was gone, Tate said, “It was my mistake. There were plenty that tried to warn me and I didn’t see it.”
“Love can do that,” he said.
“No,” Tate said. “Love doesn’t blind people as much as you hear. I wanted something that she didn’t. It’s no more than that.”
“Don’t do that to yourself,” he said.
He’d never known Tate to get down on himself.
“I’m fine,” Tate said. “I really am. And not sure how we ended up talking about that. Ignore me. There was a bigger reason I asked you to meet tonight for a beer.”
“The game,” he said.
“No,” Tate said. “Not fully. I need a hobby.”
“A hobby?” he asked.
“I thought maybe we could go in on a house together. I’ve got a lead on one. That is if you’ve got time for it.”
He hadn’t expected this, though Tate had said for years he was interested in doing it.
He wasn’t going to say no right away; he’d hear his friend out. He’d never had a partner before. It wasn’t a money issue and he lived in the house so wasn’t sure how this would go.
“Depends,” Christian said. “I’m not looking for a roommate and you know I live in my flips.”
“I know,” Tate said. “I’m not leaving my house. I just figured it’d give me something to do and invest in. Less money you’d have to put upfront too.”
“You know you’ve got to do some of the work too,” he said with a big grin on his face.
“I can do things,” Tate said indignantly. “I did work in my house.”
He’d helped Tate with a bathroom remodel when his buddy bought his house years ago. Tate was good labor but not so good at other things. The joys of demo, those two had a blast, but it wasn’t all about smashing things and took more finesse.
“You did. Where’s the house?” he asked.
“Altamont,” Tate said.
Which was right outside of Guilderland and a coveted area. “Give me the details.”
He listened while Tate talked. It wasn’t that far, just about fifteen minutes. The price wasn’t bad, but he’d have to see it.
“It’s a coworker’s parents’ house,” Tate said. “It hasn’t had work done in thirty years or more by the sounds of it.”
“Is it on the market?” he asked.
“Not yet. I heard him talking about it. His father died a month ago and he’s fighting with his sisters about putting money into it to sell it, or just do it as is.”
