Ava Aimes idolizes her fun-loving, geektastic father, but when he ditches her and her mom for his so-called soulmate—a move that basically turns her mother into the walking dead—she vows to give up the geek life forever. She won’t let anything remind them of what they’ve lost, even if it means saying goodbye to her best friend and OG cosplay partner, Declan. Their childhood memories are tied too closely to her traitor dad. 

Five years later, that vow begins to chafe as Ava moves mindlessly toward the end of junior year doing everything she thinks will make her cheerleader-turned-real-estate-agent mom happy. Pep club? Check. Potential Greek god prom date? Reluctant check. Gaze fixed firmly away from where her surprisingly cute ex-bestie sits with his friends on the other side of the cafeteria? Not-so-check. The urge to be back at his side is strong, but is it worth risking her mom’s newfound happiness for a chance at her own?  

Declan Greene is so over his childhood crush and first real heartbreak, Ava. Honestly, he barely even registers her existence across the cafeteria, tucked in the center of the popular crowd. Laughing alongside her new best friend who is decidedly not him. No, he has far more important things to focus on now, such as the workshop he’s running at the upcoming anime convention. If all goes well, it could lead to a high-profile summer collab with the area’s leading prop-maker—an opportunity he’ll do anything to secure.

But when his crafting partner, Hiro, backs out three weeks before the con, and Ava shows up as his replacement, Declan will either have to accept her help or chance losing the workshop altogether. He desperately wants it to succeed, but will spending all that time together rekindle the feelings he’s spent five years putting to rest? 

These former friends are about to discover that when it comes to the past, there are some things even hot glue can’t fix.