My stomach rumbles at the first bite of my pancakes, and I shovel another forkful into my mouth.

“Mmmm.” A moan escapes my lips as maple syrup dribbles down my chin.

I scoop it up with my finger, and Sergeant Gray chuckles, watching me.

“These are good.” He closes his eyes as he finishes his mouthful. “They remind me of my mother.”

“Are her pancakes as good as these?” I spear more pancake with my fork and scoop it through the maple syrup, making it nice and sticky before shoving it in my mouth.

“They were.”

There’s a sadness in his tone that makes me glance up. He’s leaning against the headboard with his eyes still closed and a pained expression.

I note the use of the past tense and rest my fork on the plate. My hand reaches for him, and I bring my hand down on his leg as he opens his eyes.

Sergeant Gray’s eyes find mine. His sadness reflects my own, and I know without asking that he’s lost his mother, too.

Pain flares in my chest and I suck in a breath, unable to stop it as tears sting my eyes. Though I’m supposed to be the one comforting him, he puts aside his tray of half-eaten pancakes, and without speaking he moves my plate aside and wraps his strong arms around me.

“Hey, are you okay?”

I rub my chest, trying to get this ache out of my heart as he pulls me into his chest and rubs my back in slow circles. In this stranger’s arms, I let the pain well up in my chest until it explodes in loud sobs that wrack my body.

He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t ask questions. He just holds me as I fall apart against him.

I sob in his arms until my body feels empty. My chest is hollow, and there’s nothing left inside me to come out. Only then do my tears stop, and my body stops shaking. My sobs turn to whimpers, and I slowly become aware of the man I’m leaning on, whose firm chest has propped me up while I fell apart. His heartbeat is steady under my head, and his hand keeps up a circular rhythm on my back.

A flush of embarrassment sweeps up my neck, and I sit up and bury my face in the bathrobe, wiping the tears off my face.

He still doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. He thought he was getting another day of sex, and instead, I’m having a meltdown. He must be itching to leave.

“I’ll get you some water.”

He goes to the bathroom, leaving me time to wipe the tears off my face and pull my robe tight around me.

I expect Gray to pull his clothes on and leave. But instead, he sits next to me and hands me the water.

“You want to talk about it?”

I shake my head and take the water from him. The cool liquid is a balm to my dry throat.

His hand lands on my shoulder, and the warmth of a human touch eases the ache a little. I swallow and say the words I haven’t been able to say since I found out two days ago.

“My mom died.”

He sucks in a breath, and the pressure on my shoulder increases. He takes the water glass from me and puts it on the bedside table before enveloping me in his arms.

“I’m so sorry.”

Another stab of pain erupts in my chest, but this time, the pain is a little less than before. Gray rubs my back until my breathing gets under control.

“Is there someone you want to call?” he asks. “Do you have family? Someone who can come get you?”

I think of my brother, the only family I have left now. He’s been informed, and the Navy has given him leave, but he won’t land on US soil until tomorrow. If he knew what I’d been up to with a stranger in a hotel room, my straight-laced brother would flip.

“No. I’m on my way back home.”

“Do you need to get going today? We don’t have to stay another night.”

I think about the two-bedroom house I grew up in, sharing a room with my brother and then with Mom when Hudson got too old to want his little sister around.

The small brick home that Mom decorated with plants and brick-a-brac and photos of us, covering every surface so you didn’t notice the cracks in the walls and mold in the corners.

My old room will be waiting for me, but the house will be empty. I don’t want to spend a night there on my own.

“I’d like to stay another night here.” I don’t dare to look at Gray. “But I understand if you want to leave.”

He adjusts his body so I’m facing him and tilts my chin up with his palm. My eyes must be red from crying, and it’s hard to look him in the eye.

“Look at me, Rose.” His voice is gentle, and when I bring my gaze to his, his eyes are glassy and full of compassion.

“I understand loss.”

I wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t. Whatever loss he’s speaking of, he’s not ready to share.

“If you want me to leave, I’ll leave. But not without making sure you have someone you can go to today. I won’t leave you alone like this.”

My chest squeezes, and new tears threaten my eyes. I’m overwhelmed by the kindness of a stranger. I blink quickly. “Thank you. You don’t need to stay if you don’t want to. I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”

He smiles softly. “Don’t ever apologize for your grief.” He may be a stranger, but Sergeant Gray is a decent human being. “You just tell me what you want to do today.”

His finger brushes my cheek, and I give a long shaky breath. I tried to pick up a man last night and ended up sobbing on his chest in a hotel room. I can’t even do a one-night stand properly.

A memory of his body pressed against mine creeps into my mind, making me shiver. We’ve secured the hotel room for a second night, but that’s not the kind of intimacy I need right now. What I need is a distraction of a different kind.

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

He looks surprised for a moment, but then his lips twitch up in a smile. “You think they’ve got popcorn on the room service menu?”