Mike suddenly got a wiff of the man's scent as he got close. The scent suddenly brought to the centaur's mind the image of a waiting predator. To his regular memory, he got the impression of one of the school bullies trying to trick him into something. Both were bad news.
He finally realized the warning signs he had seen but ignored earlier, the hollow smiles and nasty laughs like the preppies in school.
Forcing his body to act calm, he shakes his head no. "Maybe later. My friends are impatient and paranoid. You know how dragons are... If I delay, they might get a bit... eager... to seek me out."
The burly man hmmms and thinks while Mike bids him Good day and trots back the way he came.
As he nears the edge of town, a voice calls "Stop!"