Just Remember to Breathe (Thompson Sisters)

noticeably more fit than it had been our first morning running together two months ago. His legs still didn’t quite match, but they were close. And despite the extensive scarring, they were still sexy as hell.
    As always, we started out with warmups, then slowly running. As we hit 110 th , he picked up the pace.
    “What time does your sister’s… um… um… shit. Can’t remember the word.”
    “Flight?”
    “Yeah. What time does her flight get in?”
    “Three. I told her I’d meet her at the airport.”
    “Okay.”
    We ran in silence for a little while. He did that occasionally. Just blanked out on perfectly common words. Dylan said it was a side effect from the traumatic brain injury he’d suffered when the bomb blast killed his best friend. He didn’t talk about it easily, but he was talking about it, and that was progress.
    That afternoon, one of my older sisters, Carrie, was flying into New York. She graduated from Columbia two years ago, so this was sort of a homecoming. She said it was just to visit, but I had the uncomfortable feeling that she was being sent to check up on me. Because, well, I have that sort of family.
    That’s okay. Even though there was a six-year gap in our ages, Carrie and I had always gotten along well. Having five sisters is sometimes a blessing, but often a curse.
    She’d freak if she saw me running seven miles in the morning. It was hardly in character, considering my past aversion to sports and anything resembling them. And that cheered me. As crazy as it was, I was getting a rush from the running. We didn’t really talk, just ran side by side, and usually stopped and showered, then went and got breakfast.
    Kelly said that Dylan had cursed me. Last year the earliest I ever got up was 10 a.m.
    We got back to his tiny apartment at about 7:30 a.m. And a guy was sitting on the front step. Crew cut, jeans and T-shirt, head was leaning back against the door, mouth hanging open, asleep.
    “Holy shit,” Dylan muttered. Then he ran up to the guy.
    I was astonished at what happened next. Slowly, he reached out and squeezed his nostrils shut, then leaned forward and shouted, “Wake up, Weed!”
    The guy jerked to a standing position instantly, saw Dylan, and shouted, “Holy shit! It’s the Studmaster!” then grabbed Dylan in a bear hug.
    They growled at each other, teeth bared, then Sherman, who was at least five years older and a head taller than Dylan, lifted Dylan off the ground and twirled him around. Like a ballerina, but with growling and laughing.
    “Oh, man, what are you doing here?” Dylan said when Sherman put him down.
    “Terminal leave, baby! And I’m gonna get so drunk I’ll be blind! Those New York girls better watch out, because: I. Am. Here! ”
    Dylan shook his head, laughing, then said, “Alex, this is my so-called friend, Ray Sherman. Sherman, this is Alex Thompson.”
    I gave him a smile and approached. His eyes widened a little bit, and he said in an aside to Dylan, “ The Alex?”
    Dylan nodded, a smile curling up on one side of his mouth.
    He turned to me and said, “Wow. I’m so glad to finally meet you, Alex. Dylan’s been talking about you nonstop the entire time I’ve known him, but… wow. He actually understated how beautiful you are.”
    I smiled a little as my cheeks went red hot. “It’s nice to meet you, too. Dylan’s talked quite a bit about you too.”
    He shook his head. “Don’t believe anything this guy says about me. It’s all lies.”
    “I’m sure that’s not true,” I said.
    “Huh. You obviously don’t know Paris as well as you think. I bet he didn’t tell you how awesome and super masculine I am.”
    I shrugged and grinned. “He did say you were kinda cute.”
    Sherman burst into loud laughter, doubling over. “Oh man, she got both of us, Dylan. I love this girl! Where did you find her again?”
    Dylan smiled at me and said, “We ran into each other on an airplane.”
    “Man. I gotta fly more. So what’s on the agenda?”
    Dylan chuckled. “I wasn’t expecting you this soon. Um… We’re going to pick up Alex’s sister this afternoon, she’s visiting New York for a few days. Alex is dragging me to a party tonight. You should come, so I’ll have someone to talk with. Right now, we’re going to grab a shower and go get some breakfast. You coming?”
    “Food! Hell, yeah. Alex, you gonna introduce me to your sister?”
    “Of course,” I said.
    “Awesome. Let’s get going then.”
    “Promise to