The Big Brother Trap Chapter 1

My phone shattered.

At the airport, I borrowed a stranger's phone to call my brother: "Bro, where are you?"

He chuckled, his voice low and teasing: "Which 'sister' is this? Hmm?"

I cleared my sore throat: "Your biological sister. Same mom, same dad."

"Since when do I have other sisters?! And why wasn't I informed?!"

Silence on the other end.

"Cough. Why are you calling from a strange number?"

"Something urgent came up, I can't leave. I sent a buddy to pick you up."

He teased, "You know him. It's the hot guy you swore you'd marry when you were a kid."

* * *

After SATs were done and college applications submitted, my parents packed me up like luggage and shipped me off to spend the summer with my brother, who works in New York.

They planned a romantic getaway, just the two of them, and didn't trust me home alone.

My brother, Nate, initially refused.

"I have work every day. I don't have time to babysit her."

My mom raised her voice: "You were the one who begged us to have a little sister! You promised you'd take care of her! Now she just needs a place to crash for the summer, and you're full of excuses!"

"Don't you have weekends off? You're single, what could you possibly be busy with?"

"You wanted her, you deal with her."

Nate laughed, defeated: "Fine, fine, fine. Send her over."

"I'll take care of it."