Dancing Away by Karenna Colcroft

Literary Nymphs Interview

Title: Dancing Away

Author: Karenna Colcroft

Publisher: Pink Petal Books

Genre: M/M contemporary

Release Date: August 16, 2012

What inspired the story?

Two things. This story is a follow-up to a heterosexual novella titled You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This. In that story, the heroine, Erin, lived with her best friend, a gay man named Merit. For me, Merit stole the scenes he was in, and I knew eventually I would have to write his story.

Then I heard the song “Dancing Away with my Heart,” by the country group Lady Antebellum, a duet in which a man and woman reminisce about their prom dates. And I knew I had Merit’s story.

EXCERPT:
He was still curious about why Cole had chosen to be alone, but the guy didn’t seem too forthcoming with answers. They weren’t here to discuss their current personal lives anyway. This wasn’t a couple of high school buddies catching up with each other. This was a man and the guy who’d broken his heart. All Merit wanted out of the evening was a reason to forgive Cole. Or to forget about him for good.

“You said I misunderstood what I heard that day.” He didn’t think he needed to specify which day. “So here’s your chance. Explain to me how I was wrong.”

“You were wrong because you assumed the dare was my only reason for dancing with you.” Cole looked into Merit’s eyes, and Merit’s heart began to melt even as he clung to his anger toward the other man. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t cling strongly enough. “They did dare me. I won’t deny that. They figured out you had a crush on me and thought it would be funny to yank you around by pretending I liked you back.”

That statement froze Merit’s heart solid again. He tossed his napkin onto the table and prepared to storm out of the restaurant. Of course it had just been a joke to those asswipes. He should have known better than to think he’d hear anything different tonight. “Yeah, really fucking funny. It was absolutely hilarious.” He didn’t bother keeping his anger out of his tone.

“Hold up.” Cole raised a hand. “I didn’t say I thought it was funny. I was just as pissed about the idea as you are now. They were the ones who believed it was a big-ass joke.”

“Explain what you thought, then, because I’m really not getting it.” Merit slid to the edge of the seat, hands shaking with the effort of not screaming. He was damned if he’d just sit there and listen to the guy make no sense. “Talk fast, because in ten seconds I’m out of here unless you give me a really good reason to stay. I came here to give you a chance to apologize like you said you wanted to. If that’s what this is, it’s a piss-poor effort.”

“This isn’t going any better than the phone call.” Cole frowned. “Look, if you aren’t even going to give me a chance to talk, it’s going to be pretty hard to explain. I know I’m not the best at expressing myself, but you’re throwing up boulders in the way. Do you even want to listen?”

I’m throwing up boulders? Merit was listening. Cole wasn’t saying anything. But Merit took a deep breath. He could walk out and end up wondering what the guy would have said, or he could give him a few more minutes. “If you’re actually planning to say what you mean, I’ll listen.”

“I’m trying,” Cole snapped.

The server came back to take their orders. Cole barked his, and the server seemed to take it in stride. Merit made a mental note to leave a good tip. The server didn’t deserve to be Cole’s target. As soon as he walked away, Cole took a couple of breaths and said, “My friends thought it would be funny. They said you had a crush on me, so this was just one more plan of theirs to humiliate you.”

“You went along with it.” This time, Merit kept his tone more neutral.

“Only because it gave me an excuse to dance with you.” Cole looked him in the eye again, and his brown gaze pierced Merit straight through. “I said they thought it would be funny if I pretended I liked you back. The thing is, I wasn’t pretending.”

Where can we find your website?
My website is www.karennacolcroft.com.
Readers can also find out more about me and chat with me on my Facebook group, http://www.facebook.com/groups/261093317316839/.

Since today’s the release date for Dancing Away, I’m holding a contest. Tell me about your high school prom—or, if you didn’t attend one, tell me about your dream prom—in the comments. One winner will be chosen to receive a PDF of Dancing Away.