Six years.

Layla and I have been together for six. Fúcking. Years.

Best six years of my life.

And I'm finally ready to take the next step in our relationship.

"Reece, I don't care how long we've been together for, I'm not peeing in front of you."

I let out an exasperated groan, tossing my head back. "Sunshine, we need to leave in five minutes, and I need get ready."

"Yeah, well maybe you should have thought about that earlier." She sasses back from the other side of the bathroom door.

A frustrated sigh leaves me, "Baby, I really couldn't help it. You were more than willing as well."

"Just because I want to have sex, doesn't mean I won't listen to reason! I didn't know what time it was!"

"You think I care about the time when you're moaning like that? Fúck no!"

"Reece!"

"What?" I laugh, picturing the blush covering her cheeks. I hear the toilet flush and let out a sigh of relief.

A few moments later, the door opens, and a still-red-faced Layla faces me, pouting slightly. "You can't say things like that, Reece."

"You want me to lie and say you weren't screaming my name as I-" The rest of my sentence is muffled by her hand that clamps over my mouth, preventing me from continuing.

"Finish that sentence and you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight." She stares me down pointedly and my eyes widen slightly. When I remain quiet for a few seconds, she slowly takes her hand away from my mouth.

I smirk. "You know, you're really hot when you're angry."

"Reece Carter!"

I laugh to myself, escaping the little blonde monster and slipping into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I can hear her huff of frustration through the door, and it only makes it harder to contain my laughter. Her little feet stomp away, and I manage to control my amusement long enough to get ready for the day. It's a Saturday today, so Layla and I aren't working. We're meeting Liam, Anna, Amanda, and Mark for lunch downtown, but we're already running late.

I finish up in the bathroom and walk back into the bedroom in time to catch Layla struggling to zip up her dress. She's wearing a little sundress that's flowy and short and it's my favorite color. She damn well knows what she's doing.

"You need some help, Sunshine?" I ask as I walk up behind her, watching her face in the mirror in front of her.

She huffs, glaring at me playfully. "You going to tease me some more?"

"I wouldn't do that to you, baby," I murmur playfully as I stop right behind her, leaning down closer to her ear. My hands slip around her waist, and I watch their decent in the mirror. "But clearly you have no problem teasing me."

She smiles, batting my hand away gently when I attempt to slip it under her skirt. "We don't have time for this, Reece! Can you please zip me up?"

I sigh, doing as she says while I try to reason with her. "You know we won't even be that late if you just hop up on the desk right there and let me go down on you. Don't tell me you're not already wet, because I know you are. I can be done in a few minutes."

I catch her gaze in the mirror once more now that I've zipped her up and I give her a little grin. My eyes drop down over her figure, noting the way the dress is tighter around her chest and looser around the bottom. The dress stops just at the middle of her thigh, swaying softly as she spins around to face me.

My eyes dart back up to look at her eyes as she asks, "How can you be so sure I'm wet?"

"Sunshine, we've been together for six years. I can tell when you're aroused." I murmur, leaning down over her slightly.

She gives me a playful little smile and tips her chin up. "Prove it."

She doesn't have to tell me twice. I place my hands on her waist and swiftly pick her up, placing her on the desk next to the mirror as I promised. I drop to my knees in front of her and her legs part for me immediately. I look up at her and quirk a brow, slipping my hands under her dress. My fingers immediately slip her panties to the side and meet her core and it's just as I expected.

She's fúcking dripping for me. "Point proved. Can I have a taste now? I know this is for me."

Her head drops back into her shoulders as I start lazily circling her clit. "You have three minutes."

I grin, pulling her skirt up and sliding her ass forward until she's almost hanging off the desk. A quick look at my watch tells me the time and I glance up at her to wink. "You got it, Sunshine." Holding eye contact with her, I lean forward and lick through her folds. Fúcking delicious. Her legs quickly tighten around my head and her hands grip the desk beneath her as I don't waste a second, plunging my tongue into her. I shouldn't love the way her thighs clench together, trapping my head between her legs, but I do. I could spend all day between her thighs. Who needs air anyway?

My tongue makes quick work of her entrance, plunging in and out at a pace I know she loves. But I also know that that's not the kind of stimulation she needs. My nose pushing against her clit isn't enough to get her there, so I lift my hand, placing my thumb on her clit and beginning the firm, tight circles she wants.

"Reece!" There it is. That scream of my name that immediately makes me hard as a rock. That tells me I'm doing things right. I continue at that pace, getting her to the edge in under two minutes. When I know she's right there, I tighten the grip my other hand has on her ass and push my face further between her legs, licking up all her arousal and quickening the pace of my thumb on her clit. Her legs begin to tremble and then she's coming for me on a scream of my name.

I hum against her, licking up every last drop of her as she comes down from her high, sagging back against the desk. One of her hands falls into my hair, brushing it back and I know she's looking down at me, watching me devour the last of her. I look up without lifting my head, finding her hooded eyes on me. With one last lick and kiss to each of her inner thighs, I lean back, letting out a soft sigh.

I lift my wrist and look at my watch. A grin curls up my lips. "Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds."

Layla huffs, shaking her head at me in disbelief. "I can't believe I let you do that. We're already running late."

I stand up and hold a hand out to her, "Come on then, Sunshine."

She takes my hand in hers and hops of the desk. Her legs are wobbly, and I grin as her hands latch onto me for stability. Her eyes narrow into a little glare. "Don't look so proud of yourself, mister."

"I'm not going to apologize. I am damn proud. That's got to be some kind of record." I tease as she walks over to her dresser, still on shaky legs.

She shakes her head as she opens a drawer and takes out a fresh pair of white lace panties. She slips off the previous light blue pair and replaces them with the white ones. Then she turns back to me with a little smile. "I have to say, that was pretty impressive. But we really do have to go now."

I nod, glancing down at the blue pants in her hand. "Do I get to keep those?"

"Reece, we share a bedroom. There's a whole drawer of my panties right there." She gestures to the drawer beside her pointedly.

I chuckle as she walks over to the laundry hamper and throws the panties in. "I'm kidding, Sunshine. We better go. I'll run down and bring the car round the front, alright?"

She nods, walking closer to me and standing up on her toes to press a kiss to my lips. She pulls back with a smile. "You taste like me."

I grin. "Damn right I do. I'll get the aircon going in the car. Make sure you lock the door behind you."

"See you in minute, baby." She calls out as I leave our bedroom and head out to the main living area of our shared apartment. I grab my keys, phone and wallet from the kitchen counter and start heading for the door.

My steps pause as I pass the closet next to the front door. I hesitate for a second before opening the cupboard and reaching up onto the highest shelf. After moving a bunch of junk out of the way, I find the shoe box I'm looking for and quickly open it. The box I put in there nine months ago stares back at me. I quickly open it and grab what's inside, tucking it into the pocket of my jeans.

After putting everything back away, I head out the door and into the hallway outside our apartment. I rush over to the elevator and head down to the garage under the building. Hopping in the car, I start the engine and turn the air conditioning on before heading out to the front of the apartment building. When I pull up outside, Layla is just walking out of the front entrance. She grins at me, doing a little run over to me in her white sandals and opening the passenger door.

She falls into the seat beside me with a little sigh, shutting the door behind her. I pull out onto the road as she does up her seatbelt. Her favorite radio station is playing on a low volume already, so she doesn't make any move to change it, relaxing back into her seat.

"You know where we're going?" She asks me, turning her head to look at me.

I glance at her with a quick nod, "The restaurant on the lakeside."

"That's the one. I'm so excited to see everyone." She wiggles in her seat excitedly and I laugh at her excitement. This is the first time we're seeing Amanda and Mark since they left for their honeymoon. They got married a couple weeks ago then flew to Greece for their holiday. Their wedding was beautiful, and Layla was Amanda's maid of honor. She's been itching to see her best friend for ages, and I can tell she's excited to finally see her and hear all about her honeymoon.

We arrive at the restaurant twenty minutes later and the two other couples are already there. Lots of hugs go around before we sit and order some food and drinks. Amanda and Mark tell us all about their honeymoon and all the fun they had. We spend hours there, catching up on everything. Even though the six of us have all moved on with our lives since we left high school six years ago, we always find time to spend with one another, keeping our tight-knit group together.

By the time we finally leave the restaurant, the sun is beginning to set. We decide as a group to have a walk down the lakeside before we part ways for the night. Amanda and Mark walk ahead of us with Liam and Anna in front of them and Layla and I trailing behind.

I hold her hand in mine as we walk, glancing down at her often. At one point, she catches my stare and giggles, pushing up onto her toes to peck my lips. Just that one little kiss is enough to make me giddy and the little item in my pocket starts to feel as though it weighs a ton. It's now or never.

Gently tugging on Layla's hand, I pull us to a stop. She stares up at me in confusion and I take a deep breath in before dropping down onto one knee. Her eyes widen as I pull the ring out of my pocket and hold it out to her, taking her other hand in mine. She gasps, whispering a small "no way" as she watches me.

Her gasp catches the attention of the others, and I can see them turn out of the corner of my eye. I see Mark quickly cover Amanda's mouth before she can say anything, and Anna immediately starts slapping Liam's arm in excitement. I let them and everything else fall away into the background as I pin my stare on Layla.

"Sunshine," I start, and I hear a small sob leave her already. I take in a shaky breath, thinking over everything I've wanted to say in the countless times I've imagined this moment before. Too many times I've dreamt of this moment in the last six years. I can't believe it's finally happening. Holy fúck.

"When we first met all those years ago in high school, I couldn't have imagined we would end up here. I first saw you when you approached me in the middle of the road. I absolutely looked like a lunatic doing that, and yet you still walked over to me. God, you were easily the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. Still are. I didn't want to like you. But dammit, I did. Immediately, I couldn't help but fall for your quick tongue and smart mouth. After that day, I didn't think I'd ever really see you again. But you pushed your way into my life, and I couldn't be more thankful for that. More thankful for you. You saw me for who I am and accepted me and loved me. I will forever love you for that. Sunshine, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. That's not exactly a secret. You're the only woman I've ever loved, and I want it to stay that way. So," I take in a shaky breath and look up at her with a watery smile, "Will you make me the luckiest man alive and marry me?"

Before I can even finish my sentence, she's nodding excitedly. She holds her left hand out to me, tears streaming down her face. "Yes! Yes, yes, of course, yes!" I barely get the ring on her finger before she's falling into my arms. I fall back onto the ground and wrap my arms around her quickly. She lifts her head and presses her lips against mine firmly. I kiss her deeply, showing her just how much she means to me. Because she means the fúcking world to me and every day I do my best to show her that.

"Thank fúck." I whisper against her lips, letting out a little laugh.

She giggles, pushing her hair behind her ears so she can properly see me. "I had no idea you were going to propose!"

"Neither did I," I chuckle, "I decided about thirty seconds before I left the apartment."

"You're insane." She laughs, kissing me again.

I smile, "Only for you, Sunshine. Only for you."