I even pat his head, holding my hand there a beat longer for the sheer audacity of it.
Peanut goes still under my hand, but his eyes keep measuring me without bothering to hide it.
Behind me, boots shift on the wooden floor. The big man I ignored takes a step. Other members start peeling off from their tables, and out of the corner of my eye I catch Freya changing the position of her feet. Zhang Xi is already alert, and Rhayne moves a hand toward her Battle Ribbon.
"Wait, wait. Relax."
I say it to the three of them before somebody turns a bad conversation into a worse fight.
I take my hand off Peanut's head and stand.
He's still staring at me.
"How did you know?" he repeats, no stutter this time.
The question carries another one underneath it: Who talked?
