Joystick
An MM Esports Romance
by Chase Power
Pairing: MM
Heat: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Scorching
Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine, Age Gap, Esports
He’s the most talented disaster in esports. I’m the retired champion sent to fix him. Neither of us expected this.
Declan Cross was a legend. Three-time Pacific Champion. The kind of player who made careers and broke opponents. Then a tremor in his hand ended everything, and now he’s just another washed-up pro clinging to relevance as a “performance coach.”
His last chance to prove he still matters? Fix Kit Laurier. Kit is twenty-three, brilliant, and absolutely unmarketable. His mechanical skill is unprecedented—top point-one percent globally. His impulse control? Nonexistent.
Declan doesn’t do chaos. He does control, precision, order. Kit is a walking hurricane of energy drinks and bad decisions wrapped in blue hair and defiance. But when Declan sees the brilliance beneath Kit’s chaos—and Kit sees the broken man beneath Declan’s control—everything changes.
You’ll love this if you enjoy:
✓ Esports/gaming romance with authentic detail
✓ Grumpy retired champion × chaotic prodigy
✓ Age gap with emotional stakes
✓ Forced proximity (coach/player dynamic)
✓ Neurodivergent-coded characters
Joystick is a high-heat MM romance featuring a grumpy retired champion, a chaotic gaming prodigy, forced proximity, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
Read Chapter One Free
The Assignment
Declan Cross had exactly fourteen minutes before his meeting with Marcus Vance, which meant he had fourteen minutes to prepare for whatever corporate clusterfuck was about to land on his desk.
He straightened the stack of manila folders on his workstation until the edges formed a perfect ninety-degree angle to the desk’s corner. His pens—black, blue, red—sat in their holder arranged by height.
Control was a language Declan spoke fluently. It was the only language that mattered.
More MM Sports & Competition Romance
Love competitive settings and intense chemistry? Explore more from Chase Power.
Puck Tease
Hockey • Age Gap
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Ball Control
Basketball • Player/Coach
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Triple Threat
MMM • Basketball
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to know anything about esports to enjoy this book?
Not at all! While the esports setting is authentic and detailed, Joystick is first and foremost a romance. Everything you need to understand the competitive stakes is explained naturally through the story. If you’ve enjoyed sports romances in other settings, you’ll feel right at home.
What’s the age gap in this book?
Declan is in his early thirties and Kit is twenty-three—roughly a 10-year age gap. Both are consenting adults, and the power dynamic (retired pro coaching a current player) adds tension to the romance.
Is Joystick spicy?
Yes! Heat level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Scorching). The grumpy/sunshine tension builds through forced proximity and their coach/player dynamic before exploding in explicit scenes.
Is there a happily ever after?
Always. Every Fractal Enigma book ends with a guaranteed HEA. Declan and Kit earn their happy ending.
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