Lily's Playlist: Everyday I'm Shuffling (Book 2)

Prologue: Smartphones (Jake's POV)

Prologue: ***Jake's birthday from his point of view***

🎼Smartphones🎼

"No rush; we're not going to leave until you get here. See you soon Cariño." I said before locking my phone and putting it back in my pocket. I returned to the living room where my family was waiting. I invited a few of my cousins, a couple of uncles, and Omar and Kelly out on the boat to celebrate my birthday with me. The only person missing was Lily.

"Lily should be here in another hour then we can head out." I informed them, before flopping down on the couch.

Omar made a face, which I ignored. It was no secret he didn't care for Lily. When Omar noticed our first interactions on Facebook, he asked about her. I told him the truth; nothing was going on between us. I was fucking her roommate and anybody could see she still had something going on with Ethan.

Her history with Ethan was enough for Omar to be wary of her. There was no love between Omar and Ethan. McKinney had grown now, but growing up, we lived in a smaller, developing community. When we first moved in with my mom's husband, Pizza Hut didn't even deliver to our area. That's how far out it was. There wasn't much to keep boys our age entertained, besides sports and girls. Ethan and I met on the basketball team. Basketball was the only thing we had in common. We became friends when he helped me keep up my grades so I could stay on the team while he got his tutoring hours for whatever club he was in.

When Omar's dad left his mom, my mom got his mom a job at the nursery and they moved to McKinney too. Our moms were close so we grew up more like family than best friends. Omar fell into our group with no problems. Everything was cool before Tina Landry. She was a hot, spoiled, devious little junior. It was our senior year and she had her sights set on Ethan. She wasn't above playing his friends to get to him. I already saw her game and didn't fall for her scheme, but Omar wasn't as smart. He claimed he was just using her but obviously that wasn't the case. He flipped the fuck out when he found out she sucked Ethan off during spring break.

In Ethan's defense, he didn't even remember how it happened, he was so wasted. That was probably my fault. Ok, definitely my fault. I might have called him a pussy a few times to get him to take shots with us. The basketball team was hanging out at my dad's place after a tournament. My dad was dating wife number 3 at the time, so he would be gone all night. I had a small party. Omar was out of town with his family. I didn't even know Tina and Ethan disappeared into the bathroom until Tina bragged about it. By the time we went back to school, the whole school was talking about it and Omar was ready to fight Ethan.

I knew it was wrong, but my loyalty was with Omar, so I had to back him up. Omar confronted Ethan at the rec center where we played ball. His brother Brandon was there too, so I had to hold him back while Omar and Ethan exchanged blows. Brandon was younger but was ready to take on anyone that messed with his brother. I couldn't let him help Ethan, but I respected it. Respect grew to friendship and that's how Brandon and I became friends. In the end, nobody won the fight. We all got banned from the rec center and didn't talk for the rest of the school year. Brandon and I eventually laughed about the incident. If Ethan had a sense of humor, he would've laughed too. Omar never would. Why he had feelings for that girl, I would never know, but who was I to judge? I understood now how you could fight for someone who didn't give a damn about you. It's like they say: the first cut is the deepest. You might move on, but that shit always stings.

So when I told Omar that Lily messed around with Ethan, he automatically wrote her off. I should have too, but it was fun to flirt with her. She was one of the few girls who gave as good as she got. She was gorgeous, smart, and funny, but wasn't conceited about it. In fact, I could see she was self-conscious.