The moment Mom laid eyes on my boyfriend, she reached out and fondled his bicep. “Sexy,” she said through gritted teeth.
It was nearly midnight. 
Dan and I had flown into Hong Kong from Portland and had just arrived at my aunt’s apartment in Tsuen Wan, where we would stay for the next three days, before flying on to Beijing. Earlier that day Mom had flown in from Los Angeles, where she and my dad lived. When Mom had learned of our trip from Auntie a few weeks earlier, she’d booked herself a flight, explaining that she was due for a visit to Hong Kong herself and was eager to meet Dan.
Now, as she clutched Dan’s arm, Mom grinned at me, daring me to mark my territory.
