Hard Reset

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Pairing: MM
Heat: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Scorching
Tropes: Age Gap, Workplace Romance, Grumpy/Sunshine, Friends to Lovers, Bi Awakening, Slow Burn

I’m fifty-two, divorced, and I’ve spent the last decade convincing myself I don’t need anyone. Then Alex Reyes smiled at me over the cubicle wall.

My life is a series of safe, predictable routines. I go to work at the Meridian Tech help desk, I fix broken computers, and I come home to an empty apartment. I don’t make waves. I don’t take risks. And I definitely don’t look at the bright, chaotic energy that is Alex Reyes.

Alex is everything I’m not: young, vibrant, and impossible to ignore. He’s the sunshine to my permanent grump, the guy who smiles at me over the cubicle wall even when I’m snarling at a support ticket.

I shouldn’t want him. He’s my coworker. He’s twenty years younger than me. And he deserves so much better than a recovering alcoholic with a history of wrecking good things.

But when a late-night work session turns into a confession I never planned to make, the walls I’ve built start to crumble. Alex doesn’t just want to know me—he wants to teach me. He wants to show me that it’s never too late to hit restart.

You’ll love this if you enjoy:

✓ Grumpy silver fox who’s soft for one person
✓ Sunshine coworker who knows what he wants
✓ Twenty-year age gap with zero shame
✓ Bi awakening done right
✓ Tuesday night hangouts that become everything
✓ The gray sweatpants scene

Hard Reset is a high-heat, low-angst MM romance featuring a grumpy silver fox, a sunny coworker who knows what he wants, and a guaranteed Happily Ever After.

Read Chapter One Free

TOM

The ticket read: My computer is making a weird noise. Please advise.

No details. No description of the noise. No mention of when it started, what they were doing when it happened, or whether “weird” meant grinding, clicking, beeping, or the unholy screech of a fan that had finally given up on life. Just please advise, like I was a fortune teller instead of a guy who’d spent four years of his life learning to fix the digital messes of people who couldn’t be bothered to Google “why is my computer loud.”

I typed back: Hi Karen, can you describe the noise? Is it constant or intermittent?

Then I hit send and immediately stood up to look over my cubicle wall.

Tom Baretti was three cubes down, and he was doing the thing. The thing where he leaned back in his chair with his reading glasses pushed up on his forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose like the ticket he was looking at had personally insulted his mother. His sleeves were rolled to the elbow—always, no matter the temperature—and I could see the dark hair on his forearms, the thick fingers pressing into his skin.

Fifty-two years old. Built like he’d spent his twenties throwing hay bales and his thirties throwing back whiskey. A mustache that belonged on a cop from an eighties movie. The office grump, the guy who answered every question with a grunt and every meeting request with a sigh.

I’d been in love with him for approximately seven months.

More from Jace Wilder

Love grumpy heroes with hidden soft sides? Explore more from Jace Wilder.

HAMMERED
MM • Blue Collar • Grumpy/Sunshine
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Bottoms Up
MM • Size Difference • Sexual Awakening
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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hard Reset spicy?

Yes! Heat level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Scorching). The slow burn builds through months of loaded glances and Tuesday night hangouts before exploding into explicit scenes. Expect praise kink, size appreciation, and a silver fox who learns exactly how to wreck his sunshine.

Is this a bi awakening story?

Yes! Tom has been married to a woman and identifies as straight at the start. His journey of self-discovery with Alex is handled with care and authenticity—no gay panic, just genuine exploration and acceptance.

What’s the age gap?

Twenty years. Tom is 52, Alex is in his early 30s. The age difference is acknowledged and embraced, never treated as a problem to overcome.

Is there a happily ever after?

Always. Every Fractal Enigma book ends with a guaranteed HEA. Tom and Alex get their happy ending—complete with a relationship that proves it’s never too late for a hard reset.

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