Free Secrets and High Spirits: Secrets, Book 4 by Lou Harper

seal where the top and bottom parts joined.
    A French shaker, Bruce noted. “How fucking bizarre.”
    “The owners of the Blue Parrot must’ve made a time capsule,” Olly suggested sensibly. “Open it!”
    Everyone thought this was an excellent idea, except Jem, who thought they should wait. “Wait for what?” Teag asked.
    Olly and Dylan both shot Jem pointed glares, and Jem shrugged in surrender.
    The wax had kept the joining parts of the shaker from rusting, and once Bruce scraped it off, they twisted apart quite easily. The contents, however, proved disappointing. Aside from some brownish substance caked to the bottom, the shaker was completely empty.
    “I told you so!” Jem crowed.
    “You told nothing,” Olly snapped back.
    They kept bickering till Dylan yelled, “Shut up, both of you!” The bickering split three ways.
    Teag listed for only a short while before his expression turned stormy and he ordered the Boys outside.
    “What on earth got into them?” Bruce asked, scratching his head and not just metaphorically. Something prickled at the base of his skull, though he couldn’t tell for sure if it was inside or outside.
    Teag whipped around and pointed a finger at Bruce. “It’s all your fault.”
    “How on earth is this my fault?”
    Teag sputtered. “Just…standing there…big and smug as if you were the best thing since sliced cheese. Well, you can stop it, because I know your type, and I’m not falling for your supposed charms. And fuck you and Tom of Finland both.” Eyes flashing with inscrutable fury, he spun on his heels and stormed away.
    “Huh?” Bruce stared after the rapidly retreating figure. An angry Teag was a sexy Teag, even when also visibly flustered, but the outburst had Bruce’s head spinning. Bruce scratched his itching scalp again and wondered what had gotten into everyone.
    He knew perfectly what had gotten into him—Teag—though not the way he would’ve liked. Well, fuck, it’ll pass , he told himself, and put the cocktail shaker on the floor. It was past noon, and he was starving. For more than just food, but lunch at least was an attainable goal. He went to his truck and found his cooler with the ham sandwiches inside.
    When he finished, he tilted his seat back, closed his eyes and waited, trying not to think. Tall order. People had called him many things before, but never smug. Not to his face. He didn’t like it. Walter was smug, and Bruce didn’t want to be anything like Walter. Ever.

Chapter Five
    Teag rushed out the door ready to yell at the Boys again, but they’d already scattered. He decided to hunt down some food instead. The dull emptiness inside him could’ve been hunger.
    He didn’t even make it to Hollywood Boulevard before starting to feel like a complete idiot. What the hell had he said and why? Bruce’s presence had always messed with his head, but that rush of anger had been inexplicable. He’d completely lost his self-control there. He hated it.
    He pushed through the door of the first hole-in-the-wall eatery he saw and proceeded to give himself a good talking-to over a greasy slice of pizza. Get your head out of your ass , the lecture started. For once, Bruce hadn’t said or done anything objectionable. The problem is yours. So you go back, apologize and behave yourself like a sensible human being in the future.
    Satisfied with his resolve, he hurried back in a rational state of mind. When he arrived, he found Olly and Jem horsing around in the parking lot, kicking a crumpled Coke can around like a soccer ball. As if they hadn’t squabbled like a pack of hyenas an hour before. They scarcely took notice of his arrival. “Dylan had to go,” Olly announced without taking his eyes off the can.
    The buzzing and fine wood dust in the air inside signaled Bruce laboring at the second, finer sanding of the floor. With his back to the door, he worked with steady and economical movements. A man who took his part in this venture seriously, while