Brewster's Brood - Part 30 (Patreon)

Part Thirty

Max Brewster – 3/10/2017 – Saturday – 6:48 pm

The last few hours had been somewhat overwhelming for Max, but he liked to think he’d handled himself somewhat well, despite the intense amount of pressure there seemed to be on him to perform sexually. Still, he felt like he’d availed himself decently, having orgasmed for three different women, whose names he thought were Daisy, Kayla and Madison, although he wasn’t entirely certain about that first one, as she’d been pretty gung ho on keeping her mouth busy doing other things any time she wasn’t moaning her pretty head off.

The real surprise of the afternoon, however, had been Kelly. She’d seemed surprised that he’d asked for her to join them, but once she’d gotten close to him, she’d gone out of her way to try and basically operate as his third hand, a wide smile on her face. She’d been encouraging, and had not just paid attention to him, but had almost studied him, to figure out what turned him on and what dialed him down. She’d quickly picked up on the fact that he liked profanity, so she’d leaned into that. She’d also quickly figured out Max liked to be encouraged, to know when he was doing something right or wrong, and she’d zeroed in on that for these three new girls that he’d barely gotten a chance to get to know. She’d helped him figure out how to make the experience work for them, practically domineering over Daisy, pleasantly trading giggles with Madison and encouraging him to dabble in breathplay with Kayla, who let out one of the filthiest moans he’d ever heard when Kelly told him to choke her for a little while.

The three of them were basically laying around the two of them, and Kelly was smoothing her fingertips along Max’s hairy stomach. “I’m glad you asked for me,” she purred. “But can I ask why you did? I figured you’d probably gravitate towards one of the girls who’s more your age, but you’ve, uh, you’ve kinda spend a bunch of time with me. And this time you even asked for me. Way to flatter a girl, even if I wasn’t your number one draft pick.” She snuggled her head up against his chest a bit. “I got no shame in coming in second to Jenny. That girl is a fucking modern marvel. But why me? Why the broken girl?”

Max narrowed his eyes a little bit. “Broken? What the fuck are you talking about?”

She sighed, shaking her head a little. “You don’t have to fucking lie to me, Max, I’m not fucking blind. I’ve got a massive fucking scar marring my flesh, and it devalues my beauty a bunch. It’s not cute, it’s not pretty, it’s not fucking ‘character-building’ or any of the other shit those people like to tell me. It’s fucking brutal and ugly and awful and I’m fucking ruined. You could’ve asked for a model, or one of those two fucking hot-ass acting sisters. Right out that door, there are literally two dozen women more beautiful than I’ll ever even dream of being, but instead you’re asking for the one with the ugly ass scar that you can’t miss any time I’m naked.”

“Okay, I don’t know who sold you this bill of goods, Kelly, but you tell them they can fucking stuff it,” Max said. “Scars don’t detract from beauty; they add to it. And sure, Jenny’s a little closer to my age, but the two of you are basically the only two that have gone out of your way to make sure that I’m enjoying myself as much as you are here at the club. Maybe throw the staff into that mix, too, but they’ve made it clear that they need men. You? You could do a lot better than me, but any time you’re with me, it never feels that way. It never feels anything less than you want me to be happy you’re around, that your presence adds to my life, never detracts from it. That reveals a sort of wisdom well beyond your years, the kind of thing that’s inherent much more than it is learned.”

“Tell you what, Max,” Kelly said, sucking a breath in through her teeth. “I won’t disparage me if you don’t disparage you, okay? Yeah, you’re definitely older than I would normally go for, but I think that’s better for me. You get that I’ve got baggage about my scar, but you respect it. You haven’t asked about how I got it. I don’t think anybody’s ever done that before, y’know? Everyone wants to talk about it, to hear the story of the hardest day of my life. But any time I think back to that moment, all I can think about how in six seconds I went from ‘before’ to ‘after.’ I miss who I was ‘before’ and it’s… it’s so fucking easy to get caught up in who she was and the plans she had made.” She trailed her fingertips along his chest affectionately. “That girl had plans, she had dreams, she had places she was going to go, doors she was going to kick in, records she was gonna set. She was gonna be the next Serena Williams. This girl?” She sighed, a single teardrop rolling down her cheek. “This girl doesn’t know what the fuck she’s gonna do next year, much less ten years from now.”

“She’s gonna do whatever the fuck she wants to, obviously,” Max said, his hand slowly running through her dark hair.

“She wants to get back to playing tennis again, to put her life back on the course it was going to be on, but that’s physically impossible,” she mumbled.

“Can I ask about it? If you don’t want to talk about it, I get it, but—”

“Sure, you’ve had plenty of opportunities where you could’ve asked, and you’ve been polite and patient,” Kelly said. “It was a complete and total freak accident. A truck carrying rebar skidded out of control and smacked into a couple of parked cars. That sent some of the rebar flying through the air, and one piece of it impaled me, shattering my pelvis, ripping my flesh open from hip to thigh. It’s easier to overlook the smaller exit wound, considering how clean it punctured out of my flesh, despite all the loose bone it took.” She hugged a bit more tightly to him. “I spent over a year learning just to walk again, and every now and then I still get weird phantom tremors. My whole pelvic bone is titanium now as is a good part of my right femur, and while I’m going to live a completely normal rest of my life, I’m certainly never going to be able to play tennis again at the same level I used to. I can’t move as fast. Even I trained ten hours a day, seven days a week, I’d never get back to that level again. That door’s just completely closed to me. So I’ve got to figure out what to do now.”

“I think the answer’s pretty obvious,” Max said with a soft laugh. “You do whatever the fuck you want to do. If you want to stay in tennis, you could always coach, or teach people, or see if you could pivot into being a commentator. If you want to get away from it, and no one would blame you for that, then do that. What are you in school for?”

“I’m on track to graduate in a couple of years with a degree in sports medicine, but I don’t know that I want to sit around pampering athletes my whole fucking life, you know?”

He nodded quietly. “You could pivot into focusing on physical therapy for people who’ve had heavily traumatic accidents like you did. You’d probably end up working with a lot of vets, y’know, like Danny, that Captain America looking guy who’s always around here. Or would that be too much of a reminder of what you went through?”

“I thought about that too, but I feel like if I stay in medicine, I’m just going to be walking around with old memories all the time,” she said. “I need to get away from it, need to get myself in front of something else, anything else, in front of something new. I just don’t know what the something else is going to be.”

“You’re whip smart, Kelly,” he said to her. “You’re clever and adaptable and perceptive, all of which are the kinds of things that forge remarkable people, the sort of people who make the world bend to their will, not the reverse.”

Kelly laughed a little bit, shaking her head against his chest. “You barely know me, Mister Brewster.”

“Kelly, I’ve spent my entire life learning how to read and judge people, and generally, that hasn’t steered me too far astray from the right path,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “Now, I can’t tell you what you see in me, but if I had to believe in anything, I think you see a kindred soul, someone whose entire life was thrown into disarray by a single, dramatic moment, and you recognize someone else who isn’t just going to lay down and give up because of one shit hand. Maybe more importantly, you see someone who’s further along the recovery path than you are, and you’re hoping maybe I’ll have some secret wisdom to impart to you.”

She placed her hand on his chest, turned her head and looked up at him. “Do you?”

“Just the one you’re expecting me to tell you – ever forward, never back,” he said with a soft smile. “There isn’t a cheat code, Kelly. No way to snap your fingers and just suddenly be on the other side of it. But you’re already past the hardest part already…”

“Am I?”

“You know what you don’t want, and you’re not wallowing in it.”

“This feels a lot like wallowing.”

“So you’re hung up on the scar from time to time,” he said, ruffling her hair. “That’ll happen. I can’t count the number of times over the first couple of years Frankie told me to stop bitching about the restaurant burning down.”

“You want to talk about it?” she asked.

“What’s there to talk about?” he sighed, rolling his eyes a little. “I invested in opening my own restaurant, and before I had enough of a chance to make a large splash, the place burned down and I lost everything, because I somehow managed to miss that the people I was renting the building from didn’t have any insurance if they could be at all proven to be even remotely liable, and the place next to mine, still in that same building, had some faulty wiring done. And they’d assured me that they did have insurance that would cover me in case of fire, so I’d been so caught up in getting the restaurant up and running that I didn’t check it for myself, or get my own insurance. But it taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever learned…”

“Which is?” she said, lazily dragging her fingertips over his stomach.

“Never assign malice to motive when laziness will do,” he chuckled. “That and never believe anything anyone tells you without some form of your own research. When it came to getting stuff set up for the truck, I didn’t trust anyone. I did all my own paperwork, filled in all the forms, got the permits, got the insurance, set up all our recipes… Frankie kept wanting to help out, but I wouldn’t let him do anything, not even simple shit like the payments system. I eventually let him take over the Quickbooks, but at the end of the day, I double check all of that myself. He doesn’t know it, but I’ve got a small app on my phone that lets me track each individual sale, just so I know he isn’t pulling a fast one on me. It’s not that I don’t trust him; it’s just that I want to make sure all the bases are covered.”

“Have you doublechecked me?” she purred in amusement.

“Not yet, but I’m sure I probably will eventually, if you and I continue along this path,” he said. “Assuming you want to continue along this path.”

Kelly rolled over, putting her elbows on Max’s chest so she could look up at him. “Before you, Max, I dated guys my age, mostly athletes although a couple of rich boys as well. You know what I learned?”

“What’s that?”

“Youth is wasted on the young, and I’m done fucking around with boys,” she said, her inflection heavy on the dismissal tone. “Boys are the one who told me my scar wasn’t sexy. Boys are the ones who told me that the only reason I couldn’t get back into tennis was because I was too weak, not because I’d been told by every doctor in six states that I wouldn’t get my full range of motion back. Boys are the ones who told me that failure reflected on me as a person. You didn’t say any of that shit, because you’re older, smarter, wiser. Maybe you’re not as good looking on the outside as the boys are, but that shit fades, whereas character doesn’t, and you’ve got that for miles. When we first met, you saw the scar, but more importantly, you saw me and you didn’t focus on the scar. What did you think? Be honest, I’m a big girl, I can take it.”

“I thought to myself, ‘There’s an interesting girl who’s lived through some real hardship and has a genuine story to tell.’ People are always thinking about simple beauty and never the story behind any of it, or who the people are going to become. If the boys are distracted by your scar or aren’t willing to encourage you to do what you want to do, then you’re right, they’re fucking idiots and you don’t need them. You’re better off without them.”

“Max, whatever you may think of yourself, you’re not like most older guys,” she said to him, a sly almost dopey grin on her face. “You’re not obsessed with making me call you daddy or showing off how rich and powerful you are. You’re not judging me and you’re not lecturing me. You genuinely seem to care if I’m having a good time.”

“Of course I am,” Max replied. “There’s so many women here with so many different desires that I can’t keep them all straight, so I’m going to be asking a lot of the time if I’m remembering right or doing what they like.”

“Well, I’m a girl of many tastes, Max,” she giggled. “I like it rough but I like it soft and gentle too. And would you think I was a pervert if I said I liked watching you give it to other girls?”

“I might, but then I’d have to admit I generally like perverted girls.”

“Mmmm… so when I told you to take me in the ass, I was kinda nervous about that, ‘cause I’d only tried it twice before and one time hurt like a motherfucker, but you? You made me enjoy it so goddamn much, I kinda want to do it again. Not, like, now now, but def sooner or later. And when you let me push Blake around? I didn’t know I had that part of me inside, but letting it out? Daaaaamn it felt good. But you know what one thing I haven’t felt any of the time I’ve been around you?”

“What’s that?”

“Jealousy,” she purred. “Like, you’ve got the option of fucking as much of these hot bitches as you want, whenever, wherever, however you want, and you’ve made time to fuck me three times already.”

“Uh, two,” Max corrected.

“Oh, I guess I’m just counting one you’re about to do,” she said with a giggle.

“Optimistic, aren’t you?” he countered. “I just pumped out three loads for three different women, and you’re trying to convince me to get it up for a fourth go.”

“Oh, I’ll convince you alright,” she said, waggling her dark eyebrows. “Because unlike all these other bitches, I’ve been paying as much attention as I can to what gets your engine running and when you’re just humoring a girl.” Her fingertips clawed a little bit against his ribs. “You’re gonna fuck me, Max, or, rather, I’m gonna fuck you. I’m gonna climb on top of that dick like a good little slut and I’m gonna bounce up and down on it, gonna pogo my pussy in your lap, ‘cause I’m your girl, Max, I’m the girl who’s gonna help you navigate this sea of snatch, figure out which asses are worth tapping lots of times and which ones you nail and forget. You want me around, because I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure you never have a bad day around here, or anywhere else. I don’t have to be your everything, but I want to be one of the names you always have on the tip of your tongue, ready to call for at a moment’s notice, to be the kind of girl in your life who always makes your heart skip a beat a little bit.”

“That’s a lofty goal,” he said to her.

“One I’m more than capable of,” she grinned. “And I can feel your cock already throbbing hard again. Besides, I’ve got to make sure you’ve got energy for at least one or two more goes tonight. No way I’m not watching that hot bitch Liane getting railed on the dance floor tonight. Now you want me to take it slow and soft or hard and fast?”

Max grinned a bit. He had to admire the girl’s confidence if nothing else. “You think you know me so well, let’s see what you’ve got.”

“I think…” she said, moving her hips over to straddle him. “You want it slow and affectionate, because you’re thinking of me as more than a piece of fuckmeat. You’ve caught actual feelings for me, haven’t you? But you’re worried, because you’ve caught feelings for Jenny too.” She shifted to rub her hips across his, letting his cock slide back and forth along her slit. “You shouldn’t, though. You shouldn’t be worried, shouldn’t be panicked.” She leaned down to press her lips to his, and it was one of the most genuine kisses he’d ever felt. “I’ve talked a bit to Jenny, and she’s willing to share you with me, and me with you. We can be a power trio, me and Jenny guiding you to the best girls, making sure you have the best experience here, but also being ready to cuddle you and kiss you and fall asleep next to you, if that’s what you’d want.”

“I’d like that, but I feel like I’m being greedy, planting my flag and claiming two beautiful women as mine, even if it’s incredibly nice just having you and her cuddled up against me,” he said with a playful laugh. “The sex is great, but you know me, I’m all about the aftercare.”

“I know,” she whispered into his ear. “That’s why I think I’m catching feelings back. But don’t you just wanna cum up this?” Her hips slammed her snatch down onto his cock on that last word, and then pressed her lips up against his, holding him in a firm kiss even as she started to snap her hips back and forth, and before he could feel himself tensing up, and sure enough, she tapped into some dark reserves he had left.

He wasn’t firing dust, but he wasn’t sure how the hell he was going to rally in an hour or two for the dancefloor. Still, the fact that she was holding her body tenderly against his, stroking his face, that was making all of this just a little more manageable. But were some of these women genuinely catching feelings for him, even with him constantly hilt deep in nubile flesh?

What madness was he in…

Danny Garney – 3/10/2017 – Saturday – 8:03 pm

Danny was a little surprised when Jenny had come over to talk to him, but Max hadn’t made his way back out onto the dance floor yet, so everyone was doing their best to seem like it was a mostly normal party without anything getting too hot and heavy, although clearly some of the new girls were starting to get impatient. All of Foxtrot Group had decided the contest had gone too far without them making their first impressions, so all ten of them had basically been pacing eagerly outside of the club until 7 pm, their designated start point, and when it had hit, all ten had come strutting right in, eager to find and lay eyes on Max, or, more importantly, to get him to lay eyes on them.

But Max was still recovering a little bit from his fourth tryst of the day, with Kelly cuddled up alongside of him, making sure he was hydrating and drinking water. And goddamn, but he certainly looked happy. Danny had access to the streams on his phone, and so he liked checking in on how Max was doing any chance he had.

“You got a minute, Danny?” Jenny said, sitting down in a deck chair next to him, Liana sprawled out on the one on the other side of him.

“Sure, Jenny, what’s up? You feeling okay?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Well, sort of. I know you’re basically just Max’s bodyguard, but are we allowed to talk about the game with you?”

“As much or as little as you want,” he said, taking a pull off his beer. “Just keep in mind I can’t do anything for you, but talk? Sheeee-it, I’m happy to help there.”

“Do you think this trio idea Kelly introduced him to – him, me and her – you think that could work in the long run?”

“Are you asking me if I think the two of you could work with Max on the outside?”

She chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Am I that transparent?”

“Look,” Danny said, sitting up. “Nobody knows which way Max is going to jump at the end of all of this. He might look on it with complete disdain and not want to speak to anyone involved with it ever again. But he also might just start laughing, and realize the absurdity of it. You started things with him on a false pretense, so that might work against you in the end, but if you’ve been honest and open about your feelings during all of it, hey, maybe that’ll cancel it out. And if you and Kelly work together and get along together, that’s gotta count for something at the end.”

“You think?”

“I sort of figured at the beginning that the initial love of the new was going to carry him through some of this, but we might be crossing past that faster than I expected, just because we got him to embrace the idea of being sexually open way sooner than any of us predicted,” Danny replied. “But I’ll tell you what… when I’ve seen him just laying there and being tenderly held, that’s generally when he’s sort of looked the happiest. You already know that, though, and so does Kelly. And I think she’s right – the odds of him just being a completely one-woman man at the end of all of this basically impossible, so it’s mostly just figuring out what he wants on the other side of this. My guess is it’ll be maybe three or four of you ladies, as different as possible but also as agreeable as it gets. So maybe pull Kelly aside when you have a chance and the two of you can hammer out some kind of strategy, figure out what’s missing from your pool, see if you can find someone who fills that need, and then try and recruit her into your squad. But I’d do it soon.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because while I think you and Kelly currently have the edge, I don’t think you’re the only one starting to think about how to build long-term team ups to better your odds,” Danny answered.

“Who else should I keep my eyes open for?”

“The acting sisters,” Liane said from the other side of Danny. “They strike me as just the right level of cutthroat that they’d be willing to put up with fucking the same guy if it got them out of their current financial disasters.”

“And all the ‘influencer’ and ‘model’ types have been talking about basically forming their own squad, hoping their looks and collective sluttiness can carry them into the finals,” Danny added. “They’re already looking to follow Kelly’s model about doing what it takes to keep him unsuspicious.”

Jenny giggled a little bit, shaking her head. “One of those little twiglets tries to take him in her ass, she’s gonna walk funny for days. Max isn’t a little guy, and that isn’t the kind of thing you just decide on a whim.”

“Just telling you what I’ve heard.”

“Thanks Danny,” Jenny said, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. “You really are the best ally we’ve got in here. I knew if I asked Mrs. Churchill, she’d give me fuck all.”

“Oh, she might’ve given you advice,” Danny said, “but whether or not it would’ve been good advice is anyone’s guess. Look sharp. It looks like Max is on his way out of the bedroom…”

MRS. CHURCHILL'S NOTES (Cast of Characters):

The Mark (& Company)

• Max Brewster – The Mark – 42, Caucasian, doughy, with mostly black (although with some gray) hair pulled back into a ponytail, sleeved with tats, tanned skin, brown eyes (near sighted), owner of the Constant Rotation food truck, and long lost grandson and only living relative of the late billionaire Max Brand. Seems like a nice enough guy, but a bit shy and a touch socially awkward. The more women I can get him to knock up, the more me and my team get paid. He had a restaurant go up in a fire and through a loophole, didn't get any recompense from either the building owner or the insurance company, and started the food truck as a way to get a fresh start.

• Monty Brand (deceased) – The Bank – Died at 102 about three months ago. Established the Brand game before his death, whereas his only living relative (Max), gets his inheritance after he's spread their genetic lineage to at least 10 women, although he can't know about the game until after it's over. I feel a little sorry for Max, but he's going to be having so much casual sex that I can't muster up too much sympathy for him. Monty wanted to make sure that both Max sowed his wild oats and also punished him for waiting so long to do so. Monty was a tough old bastard, but he's leaving Max over a hundred billion dollars, so I guess he's entitled to be.

• Frankie Yen – The Inside Man – 38, Asian American, Max's best friend, and his coworker at the Constant Rotation truck. Frankie also owns the house where Max lives in an apartment above the garage. Frankie's been a wonderful resource for us to use, and is in on the game, although he's also a little bit flaky, and doesn't always have the information we want. Doing our homework on the people Max had dated was exceptionally difficult, and I still feel like we're missing some key details that will make the whole puzzle make sense.

• Carlos & Joey Hernandez – The B-Team – The two Hispanic brothers who man the Constant Rotation food truck on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so that Max and Frankie get two days off but the truck is still earning. We're going to have to find some way to convince Max to let these two take more shifts on the truck so that we get more time with him, but Jacinda's got a few thoughts on that, and some of the girls in the game have already coopted one day of the truck's schedule, so maybe it won't be as big a problem as anticipated.

Mrs. Churchill's Team

• Mrs. Helen Churchill – The HBIC (Head Bitch In Charge) – Me. 59, short cut white hair, no nonsense business-like attitude. I've been told I resemble Dame Judi Dench, which I take as a compliment. I'm the woman in charge of the Max Brewster Project, contracted by Monty Brand.

• Jacinda Acosta – The Heir To My Throne– My right hand woman. 29, from Madrid. Black hair, brown eyes, brown skin, could stand to eat a sandwich. Only has about seven months with the team. Stresses out easily.

• Maia Brown – PR – 44, former Kentucky television station manager, in charge of social smokescreens and making sure we don't draw any attention to our operations.

• Lynne Jefferson – Tech – 28, heavy set, African American. Our technical manager, who handles all our cameras and internet connectivity. The newest member to the team, brought on about six months before the start of this project.

• Carmen Vasquez – Graveyard Shift – 37, our late night set of eyes, the one I trust to watch the camera feed when the rest of us are getting our good night's worth of sleep in.

• Doctor (Rachel) Williamson – 44, our staff doctor whose entire job it is to keep an eye on Max's health, to make sure he's not being overtaxed or exhausted beyond his capabilities.

• Danny Garney – The Muscle – 34, ex-Delta Force, chiseled and ridiculously good looking, head of security and Max's personal bodyguard, even if Max doesn't know about it. If there's anyone I'm going to lean on if shit gets out of hand, it's Danny, who's been part of my operations for about three years now, after an injury cut his military career short.

• Liane Jing – Muscle Adjacent – Danny's girlfriend, 26, 6'6” Asian American, gorgeous and playful, knows what Danny's up to, but doesn't mind being used as cover considering it gives her a front row seat to the madness. Liane's been with Danny long enough that I have her under NDA, and if he does the right thing and puts a ring on it, I may even consider bringing her into the team, since she seems to have good instincts at crisis management.

• Heather Bickers – Midnight Muscle – 31, ex-Army Ranger. Danny can't be awake all the time, so Heather's doing nightwatch duty for him, as she has on and off for gags we've been running. Heather's smart, capable and an excellent person to serve as Danny's second.

Alfa Group

• Zoe Hitchens – The Planner – 36, business analyst, light blonde, Nordic, 5'7”, glasses, blue eyes, expensive tastes, the smartest in A group, wants to organize for success, from DC. So far, Zoe's been instrumental in making the group time spent with Max feel natural and organic. I don't think she's after Max for the long haul, but she's definitely invested in making sure the game is a huge success. Might even be a candidate for my team at a later date, post kid or if she doesn't get knocked up. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Dana Weismann – The Socialite – 32, heiress/investor, brunette, 5'9”, had nose job/boob job, brown eyes, doesn't care about the money only wants good DNA for her kid. Is presenting herself as the owner of the Berkeley chapter of the Ironwood Estates sex club, something the girls made up to try and sell Max on the story. She's whip smart and seems to enjoy the challenge the game presents. Definitely not wifey candidate. Attempts: 0.

• Michelle Stenson – The Joker – 24, pharmaceutical rep, 5'4”, dark blonde, ex college cheerleader, the ultra flirt, mostly just here to get in, have a good time, get knocked up and get out, from Texas. Seems to enjoying the girls' company more than Max's, but definitely wants to get her cut. No chance of going for wifey. Attempts:1, Success: Unknown.

• Rachel Munroe – The Intellectual – 27, redhead, psychiatrist, 5'2”, wants to keep everyone on the rails, protective of the girls' feelings. Haven't decided if she's going to try and go wifey or not, but is another smart put early in the game, as she's helping sell the story well. Attempts: 0.

• Kelly Coleman – The Damaged Student Athlete – 21, brunette, native Californian, 5'7”, 120, in phenomenal shape except walks with a slight limp, was a rising up and coming tennis star until an accident injured her too much to ever play again, has a chip on her shoulder and something to prove. Definitely not wifey material, but will be a good touchstone for the younger girls in the game. Took one in the mouth and one in the ass to sell the story, so definitely willing to play the game as needed. Has potential to run long in the game. Attempts: 2, Success: Unknown.

• Mai Liang – The Banker – 30, investment banker, 5'6”, slender, 2nd gen Chinese American, tired of feeling like a walk on in someone else's story, does NOT intend to keep Max around. She's got a bit of a chip on her shoulder, but I think she's going to be another get in, get knocked up, get out candidate, and won't care about upping the pool after she's gone. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Jenny Westinghouse – The Undercover Cop – 33, strawberry blonde, 5'10”, Oakland detective, keeps strange hours which makes it hard to have a relationship, on 3 months administrative leave following difficult UC assignment, dependable & accomplished liar. I knew Jenny was going to be a key player in our game, but she's taken to it like a fish to water. Might be wifey candidate. Certainly seems like she wants to go for the long game. One to watch closely. Her and Zoe are my current odds on favorites, although it's early. Attempts: 3, Success: Unknown.

• Cara Bianchi – The Tourist – 25, brunette, 5'11”, business owner, visiting from Rome, wants a non-Italian father, in need of money, doesn't want to ever talk to Max. I was pretty impressed with how Dana and Esme handled Cara's incredibly specific demands, and I'm hoping it took so we can just get her out of here, as she's a massive pain the ass. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Blake Brown – The Party Girl – 19, 6'2”, blonde, Berkeley student, sees this as an opportunity to have a kid early in life, have the day care and her tuition paid for, studying to get into IP law. She's nowhere near mature enough to stick with Max long term, but she'll be a fun dalliance for him to dip his dick into, assuming she doesn't put him off with her flippant attitude or her incessant textspeak. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Esme Santiago – The Team Player – 24, 5'4”, Latina, up from Texas, wants to have a child but dislikes everyone in her small town, intends to go back home after the competition and help her parents run the family business. Doesn't seem like wifey potential, but is working well with Dana to sell the Ironwood Estates story, acting as “manager” of the club. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

Bravo Group

• Zelda Fujikawa – Doctor Wifey – 34, 2nd gen Japanese immigrant, oncologist on sabbatical from a Miami hospital, wants to stay with Max past the game. Extremely pragmatic and determined. Could be a contender. Attempts: 0.

• Anya Petrov – The Eye Candy – 25, Russian model, blonde, fit, definitely in it just for the money, literal zero chance of being wifey material. Am a little worried about her being too passive for the game, but I suspect we'll see the competitor come out in her after a few weeks of Max's head not being turned. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• LaTonya Jefferson – The Investor – 27, African American, restaurateur from Chicago, not looking to stick around but wants to amp the game to get as many girls pregnant as possible. I like how this girl thinks, in that she's in it to make sure the prize pool gets as big as possible, and doesn't give a fuck about anyone's feelings along the way. Attempts: 0.

• Diane Wilson – The Deadender – 26, brunette, diner owner from small Kentucky town, needs the money, wants the kid. She seems nice enough, too passive to be wifey material, but is definitely going to make sure she gets her oven filled with a bun, as she's up to her eyeballs in debt, and the money to take care of the kid stretches a whole lot further in the Rust Belt than it does in the Bay. Could get cutthroat if the rest of the girls don't give her her shot. Attempts: 0.

• Janet Flowers – The Unrealistic Clockwatcher – 33, nurse from Oklahoma, convinced her clock is ticking despite the fact that she's still got the better part of a decade. Strikes me as overly excitable, and not wifey material, but is definitely not going to throw away her shot. Attempts: 0.

• Olivia Castle – The Realistic Clockwatcher – 41, TV exec from LA, knows her time is running out and that a viable pregnancy is going to be difficult for her if she waits too much longer. Can't tell if she wants to be wifey contender or not, but she's in TV, and that means she will cut a bitch for getting in her way. Attempts: 0.

• Song Min-a – The Foreign Starlet – 25, actress from South Korea, wants a baby completely removed from the press of her home country. Nobody knows who she is here, but she's a massive star in her home country. She had to duck the press leaving, but the longer she's in the game, the more attention her presence might bring. We're hoping to keep her presence in the Bay quiet, but it's not something that we can completely control. Doesn't want to be wifey, so won't be, but wants the father of her child to be a non-issue. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Lisseth Rodriguez – The Fugitive – 23, Latina from Arizona, wants a father for her child that her bad ex can't track down. I feel for Lisseth, I really do, and I decided if she gets pregnant, we're going to give her a “signing bonus” to help her relocate after the game, to get away from a particularly vindictive ex-husband. We'll get her settled somewhere in the Northeast with a new name and a new life, away from that asshole. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Yael Getschmann – The Bohemian – 31, Jewish, artist/sculptor, split between just wanting the kid and wanting to go for the brass ring. Could be wifey material, but also may not be motivated enough for our boy, who seems a bit of a hustler when it comes to work life, whereas Yael's pretty much had everything handed to her on a silver platter. One to watch. Attempts: 0.

• Charity Morrison – The Kind Soul – 38, blonde, professional caregiver, just doesn't have time to date but wants a kid. I don't know that I've ever met a more aptly named woman. Charity wants a kid, but hasn't got a great social support system for dating, and her work makes meeting new people a giant challenge. No chance at wifey status, but one of the ones I'm personally rooting for to get her fill. Attempts: 0.

Charlie Group

• Marta Youngquist – The Nutritionist– 33, personal trainer, yogi, cook and dietitian. Blonde, slender, pretty in a kind of naturist way. She's been offering advice on what kinds of food to give to Max to keep his sexual appetite and energy up, as well as to increase his virility, although I don't know how much of that is actual science and how much of it is pseudo mumbo jumbo. No way in hell she makes wifey. Attempts: 0.

• Brooklynn Travers – The Fallen Older Sister – 36, actress, heiress to nothing, from a somewhat shattered family. Redhead, sporty, talented, a little conniving maybe. She and her sister were the heirs to the Travers fortune. You know, the one that disappeared just a few years ago, when the patriarch died and it was revealed that the family “fortune” was purely paper fiction. She and her sister are earning decent money acting, but they're used to living large, and I suspect the game is just as much about the money as it is the kid. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Guinevere “Gwen” Travers – The Fallen Younger Sister – 33, actress, also an heiress to nothing. Brunette, thin, very pale. If Brooklynn is the populist actress, Gwen's the arthouse rebel. She's also had a long list of disastrous relationships. The two sisters are both interested in having kids out of the spotlight, and so they're doing this for themselves, although I think both have aspirations of turning wifey. Their chances? Not entirely sure. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Keisha Jefferson – The Attorney – 37, lawyer from NYC. African-American, highly accomplished. If there's anyone who read every single line of our NDA, it was Keisha, who's here just to get herself a child without the hassle of having a father who wants to be involved in the child's life. She's going to get in, then get out, but she's also going to make sure the game does well and her paycheck is solid. Attempts: 0.

• Erika Lu – The Songwriter – 31, professional songwriter from LA. Asian-American, ex-choir girl, ex-cheerleader, cheery and positive as all hell. Erika's been working with lots of very well known performers, and has probably co-written a number of songs you know and love. She's hard to get a read on, so maybe she's going for wifey, maybe not. Attempts: 1. Success: Unknown.

• Felicita Rodriguez – The Architect – 35, one of the architects from Rodriguez & Sons construction company from Mexico City. Latina, should've been a model. She's got a bit of a chip on her shoulder that her father didn't rename the company to include her when she joined the company. Just wants the anonymity and the money. Not going for the brass ring, I think. Attempts: 0.

• Nina Hanson – The Stylist – 24, a beautician and hair stylist from Cleveland. Blonde, BBW, charming and personable. Needs the money, wants the kid. Feels mostly like a seatfiller, but might surprise us, considering she's remarkably easy to talk to. Attempts: 0.

• Angel MacDonald – The Hard Sell – 27, looks much younger. Blonde, slender, dresses to play into her extremely youthful appearance. I think Angel's going to have the hardest time with Max because she just doesn't appear old enough, so she's going to have to very much play into the “no one takes me seriously” angle, rather than the “I'm a cute little Lolita” shtick she's been using with boys her entire life. Attempts: 0.

• Danielle Fox – The InstaPersonality – 24, brunette from Dublin. She's a fashion Instagrammer TikTok model, and we had a personal talk with her about how much shit she'd be in for blogging or getting anyof this on social media. She's gorgeous and savvy, and is used to looking pretty, but her boyfriend is impotent, and they want a child, so he's given her permission to do this crazy thing while he's uploading prerecorded stuff for the three months while she's away. Attempts: 0.

• Hana Tanaka – The Shut-In – 28, from Nikko, Japan, two hours north of Tokyo up the mountains. Hana is painfully shy, so I'm hoping she's going to pair up with someone else who can get her into Max's bed. She wants a child, but doesn't want to have to find a husband to do it. Attempts: 0.

Delta Group

• Sunshine White – The Hippie – 29, “maker” and metalsmith. You know, I've heard about people like Sunshine for years, how they would spend time at Burning Man in tutus and fairy costumes while welding steel onto the side of an old schoolbus, but I always believed that was sort of a myth, until I met Sunshine, who is so that person. Is local, but way too out there to be wifey material. Attempts: 1, Success: Unknown.

• Aisha Janson – The Comedian – 34, professional stand up comedian from Oakland. She's been a writer and a stand up for the better part of twenty years, and while she's made a great career out of it, she's had some bad run ins with male comics that soured her on long term relationships. She knows not to make material out of this. Attempts: 0.

• Kayla Denver – The World Traveler – 28, a travel writer/blogger who graduated from college and went on a world tour that she's never really come down from. Is best known for her article on how to travel nonstop on frequent flyer miles for basically nothing. Seems like she's mostly in it for the experience. Attempts: 1.

• Tisha Brady – The War Photographer – 33, a photojournalist from Jordan who has spent the last decade in every war zone she can find, which has already won her a Pulitzer. She's a little embittered by life, so she's hoping bringing a life into the world will shock her out of her ennui. Will be a little heavy for Max, but will be a good contrast. Attempts: 0.

• Aiko Cabrera – The Small Town Peruvian– 26, works at a roadside motel in Huaraz, Peru as both desk clerk and maid. She's never been out of Peru before now, although her English is excellent. She's mostly here to see the world, and get outside of her little comfort zone. She's not in it for the long haul, but definitely wants a kid. Attempts: 0.

• Delphine Trudeau – The Fashionista – 25, an up and coming fashion designer from Paris, she's so heavily immersed in the fashion world that she doesn't see many other ways to meet a man outside of that world. I'm mostly intrigued to see how high fashion runs into... Max. But she's French, so I'm sure she'll make it work. Attempts: 0.

• Daisy May Price – The Deep Fried Southerner – 22, works on her parents' farm in rural Georgia, and wants to have a child but knows her parents would never approve without meeting the man, and they have hated all her boyfriends. Daisy May is loud and boisterous and is going to bring volume to the competition. Let's see if Max knows what hit him. Attempts: 1.

• Eliza Sims – The War Widow – 25, still trying to recover from the loss of her husband, Nick, who was KIA in Afghanistan last year. Her whole world fell apart, and she's still sort of grasping at straws, but feels like being a mother will be the first step on her road to recovery. Attempts: 0.

• Rose Whitcombe – The Athlete's Daughter – 20, from England, daughter of professional soccer legend Max Whitcombe. Rose has been trying to find a place for herself, competing in international dressage competitions, but right now, she's mostly just eager to do something to rile her father up. Something of a firecracker. Attempts: 0.

• Ali O'Halloran – The Mountie – 29, from far northern Canada, Ali's been working for Canadian law enforcement since she was old enough to be admitted, but the job hasn't left her room for starting a family. Very friendly and approachable, and hopefully won't get shoved out of space for Max's attention. Attempts: 1.

Echo Group

· Annabeth Winslow – The Nuclear Physicist/Comedian – 33, Annabeth got her doctorate in nuclear physics, but after a couple of years in research, she gave it up to become a stand-up comedian. She’s witty and observant, but at this point, her money’s running tight. Attempts: 0.

· Svetlana Miersk – The Gangster – 28, the daughter of now-dead Russian crime boss Oli Miersk, Svetlana has taken over the family business. Despite being told repeatedly that if she’s arrested the payments would stop and that having a child would be a liability in her line of work, she’s adamant that she wants to take part in the game. So I figure, either way, Max makes out for the best. Attempts: 0.

· Deepika Bashir – The Researcher – 36, Deepika immigrated from India at the age of 16 and has been struggling to find her place to fit in since she arrived in the States. She’s a researcher focusing on human behavior, and specializes in both the flaws and working aspects of neurolinguistic programming, namely how words can get the brain to take certain pathways on its own. She’s whipsmart, although she can be a bit shy at first, so we’ll see how she mingles with the crowd of players. Attempts: 0.

· Bianca Browne – The Mogul’s Daughter – 22, Bianca’s father is Blake Browne, who owns the Browne Bread Brewery, one of the most popular upstart beer companies of the last fifty years. She’s been living in a very insulated world, and is using all of this to get herself a degree of freedom from dear old dad. She’s drop-dead stunning, but isn’t used to having to work for anything, so I expect her to have some learning to do before she gets her head deep into the running for the game. Attempts: 0.

· Tanya Blue – The Retired Porn Star – 38. You would think a former porn star would have no trouble finding somebody to knock her up, but if you believe Tanya, most of the men in the industry are either complete assholes or had vasectomies before they even shot their first scene. Tanya retired about four years ago, and has since gone on to become a writer and a C-list actress, but she wants a kid and she wants it with somebody nobody knows. Attempts: 0.

· Madison Belledin – The Touring Musician – 31, I think Madison has spent most of her life in motion and without a home. Her parents were musicians who drifted from band to band, from tour to tour, and so Madison’s never really stayed in one place for long, or had much of a home. When she was old enough, she followed in their footsteps and began playing whatever was needed for whatever band was hiring. Doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for love. Attempts: 2.

· Evelyn Staples – The Mortician – 25, Evelyn doesn’t spend a lot of time around the living, so she’s not exactly the best at conversation, but she wants a baby and likes the idea of the kid being funded by someone who’s just going to keep his nose out of her business. Attempts: 0.

· Jaybird Nielsen – The Flight Attendant – 38, Jay travels about a million and a half miles every year and has done so for the last couple of decades as a flight attendant traveling internationally constantly. The pay is good and she enjoys being loads of places, but wants to take a couple of years off to have a child. That’s why she’s here. Unlikely to stick around, but her interpersonal skills make her an easy check in the win column. Attempts: 0.

· Gail Hopeless – The Farmer – 24, Gail’s from the middle of nowhere, somewhere in central Australia, and is completely away from her home and comfort zone, but wants to have an adventure while she’s still young, and all this is meant to be that. Attempts: 0.

· Jordan Tanbar – The ‘Influencer’ – 19, It’s funny how utterly confident this girl is despite not having any real basis for her confidence. She claims to be an ‘influencer,’ but she hasn’t got a lot of followers and doesn’t really influence anything. But I think she’s hoping that having a child will help her break into finding an audience. I have my doubts she’s going to be able to lure Max in, but she’s got such faith in herself that it’s going to be fun to watch if nothing else. Attempts: 0.

Foxtrot Group

· Nina Legetti – The Repeat Widow – 29, What a rough beat this lady’s had. She married her childhood sweetheart at 19 and lost him to cancer at 22. She thought she was done for but at 25 she started her second act only for him to be taken from her by a drunk driver. Both times, they’d been just starting to think about trying for a child, and she was heartbroken. Now, she’s approaching 30 and she doesn’t want to have a third husband, but she wants a child to fill that void in her life. She’s a veterinarian from Kentucky, and I’m certain she doesn’t want our boy for the long run. Attempts: 0.

· Harper Ryan – The Former Soldier – 26, From one extreme to the other. Harper is an ex-Marine who lost one of her legs in the Afghan conflict and although she recovered and learned to walk on her artificial leg very easily, I don’t know that she’s ever really regained her footing. Since she’s gotten back, she’s been bouncing around a lot, trying to find her way. But I like the idea of a woman who specialized in demolitions and demolitions disposal showing our boy a bit of attention that he won’t see coming. Attempts: 0.

· Amber Nguyen – The Retired Movie Star – 38, After leaving the spotlight a few years ago, Amber decided she was retiring from acting to move into directing. She complained about how the casting directors had stopped looking at her now that she wasn’t as young and pretty as she was during her glory days, but having a child has always been on her agenda, and having the money to soften that made it even more appealing. The woman still oozes sex appeal, though, and that should carry her far. Attempts: 0.

· Dani McFadden – The Precious Stones Magnate – 26, She doesn’t want a man, just an heir. She’s the last in a line herself, her father having died in a mining accident about a year and a half ago. The man’s trophy wife was left a stipend, but Dani, his only child, inherited basically everything, so she doesn’t care about the money in any sense other than she doesn’t want her money to figure into it. Max doesn’t know she’s made of money, and even if he did, he wouldn’t care. So I think they’ll both walk away happy from this one. Attempts: 0.

· Stephanie Walker – The Bounty Hunter – 31, I love this for the game. Stephanie Walker comes from a long family line of bounty hunters and bail skip tracers. She’s used to getting what she wants when she wants it, and she does not take no for an answer. She’s ripped, she’s forceful and she’s used to putting the moves on her target. She’s not just a ripple in the pond, she’s a giant boulder. Attempts: 0.

· Megan Hitch – The Haughty Heiress – 24, This is a woman who knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want. She and the magnate will get along like houses on fire, but everyone else? Talk about culture clash. She’s used to having to navigate the cutthroat world of upper society, and she’s used to getting deferential treatment from everyone, so this is going to be rough. She’s going to have to find a way to take what she wants from someone unlikely to be interested in giving it to her. Her attitude’s going to be a challenge. Attempts: 0.

· Ashley Mansell – The Underwear Model – 21, It’s amazing how poor social skills a woman this beautiful has. She’s been part of pageants and beauty contests since she was a child, so she’s great at putting on a false front and convincing people that she’s capable of anything. But, shockingly, she’s basically a virgin, having had sex twice in her whole life. She wants to have a child as a sort of chance to do something for herself, to fulfill a personal goal. But she may have trouble talking her way into Max’s bed, if her looks can’t carry her all the way there. Attempts: 0.

· Abi Winters – The Dental Assistant – 29, This girl is absolutely tired of the social situation in her small town, but she doesn’t want to leave and she does want a child. I think it’s something about staring down 30 that makes us women all go a little stir crazy, and while she loves her home, she still wants to be a mother. Attempts: 0.

· Kristen Cruz – The Sex Ed Teacher – 26, I can’t deny the irony and hilarity of this. She’s a Midwestern sex ed teacher (although she also teaches French and history – small town high schools, it’s the sort of thing where a person wears a lot of hats), lovely girl, but like so many people in our little game, she’s sampled most of the people in her local pool, and none of them are up to snuff. Attempts: 0.

· Fang Miralles – The Spy – 28, She likes to tell people she’s an administrative assistant, but the woman is clearly an intelligence officer. But her cover is solid and she very much wants a child. We’ve pointed out that he isn’t going to be someone they can get any real advantage from, and she’s stuck to her guns – she just wants a child, but the money’s certainly a nice thing to get as well. She’s from China, but was educated in London, and she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in this game. And how could I turn down a genuine spy? Attempts: 0.

Golf Group

• Shu Yeoh – The Legacy – Daughter of Gemma Yeoh, one of the Oversight Trio.

Hotel Group

India Group

• Grace Grimaldi – Sixth in line to the monarchy of Monaco.

Juliett Group

• Isabella – The Apocalypse – God help us when she arrives... Perhaps the most unpredictable and dangerous player in the game.

• Adette Schwartz – The Late Addition– Deiter's grand daughter, an entry to the game after it's already started, something I wouldn't normally do, but saying no to Dieter would make things a whole hell of a lot more complicated.. Dieter's not to be trusted so who the hell knows what this girl's real agenda is.

Other figures of note

• Christine DeSilva – The Reporter – God. Dammit.