Page 22 of The Spark

There wouldn’t be any going back—and deep down, we both knew we didn’t want to.

9

The second I stepped into Vibrations, it felt like stepping back in time. The scent of aged vinyl, wood polish, and faint incense wrapped around me, settling into my bones like a song I’d known forever.

It had been years since I’d last been here, but nothing had changed.

Not the way the light spilled through the high windows, catching the rows of records stacked in their crates. Not the worn-in leather couch by the window where people used to sit and talk music for hours. Not the way this place made me feel—like a girl again, like the one who used to follow Amir into these aisles, pretending not to care when he stood too close.

That girl still lived inside me. And as I stood at the entrance of the shop, I felt her coming back, pressing against my skin, whispering all the things she had once wanted and never had the courage to take.

Amir brushed past me, his shoulder grazing mine, the heat from his body lingering longer than it should have.

"You good?" he asked innocently.

I blinked up at him, my pulse stuttering. Swallowed hard. "Yeah."

But I wasn’t. Not even close.

The air between us still hummed from what he’d said in the car—what he remembered, what he wanted. My skin tingled where he’d touched me years ago. My mind kept looping around one word from the past.

Please.

The vibe between us was thick. Charged. Like we were walking through an unfinished sentence neither of us knew how to end.

"Look who finally decided to stop by."

I turned toward the counter to see Mr. Reggie, leaning back in his chair, shaking his head like we were two kids sneaking back in after causing trouble. His beard was fuller now, more salt than pepper, his fitted cap still low on his head. But those dark, knowing eyes hadn’t aged a day.

"Been a long time," he said, sizing us up.

"Too long," I admitted, smiling.

"Much too long," another voice chimed in.

I turned to see Nia, Mr. Reggie’s daughter, walking in from the back. She was taller now, more grown, the kind of woman who carried herself like she knew exactly what she was doing.

"I knew y’all were overdue when I saw your names pop up liking the grand reopening post," she teased, arms folded.

Amir smirked. "I should’ve known you were lurking."

"I own this shop now, gotta keep tabs on my people," Nia shot back.

Mr. Reggie grunted, flipping through a crate at the counter. "I’m still alive and kicking. You justthinkyou run things..”

"Uh-huh," Nia muttered, already walking past him.

I smiled, my chest warming at the easy familiarity of it all. Being here felt good. Like I’d stepped into a memory.

"So what brings y’all in today?" Mr. Reggie asked, leaning his elbows on the counter.

Before I could answer, Amir beat me to it. "I need to re-up. She does too, but she’s acting stubborn about it."

I turned toward him, brows lifted. "I’m not stubborn."I just don't want you to know how much I really want you to be mine.

"You’re real selective," he shot back, flashing that lazy, knowing grin that had always been my weakness.

Nia snorted from behind the counter. "Some things never change."

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