"Hey, do you mind if Casey joins us tonight?""Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." This is the line I need to practice over and over until I am blue in the face. Either that or I need to get over my hang-ups with sharing my friends. But I don't think the later is very likely to happen.
I am sure it stems from some deep inner fear of abandonment or problems with self-worth or some other psychological dysfunction; or perhaps it is as simple as I don't like to share. But I hate it when a friend invites a third person to join in whatever plans we might have had originally made. Perhaps I am afraid that I'm not interesting enough to hold the person's attention when there is competition.
With three people, one person is usually talking, the other is listening and perhaps even interested, and the third is sitting there wondering what the going rate is for a hit-man. I've always heard $10,000, but that just seems high; at least for murdering someone relatively unimportant. And in this economy, one could probably find a pretty good deal.
I don't mind foursomes though. Conversations tend to pair up or even turn into a comfortable round-robin of chatter. Four is actually a pretty good number; maybe my favorite. You can form teams. A lot of games are designed well for four players. You can leave momentarily, like to go pee, without the concern that (with just two people) you've left the other person bored or (with three) that they'll agree you're weird or smell funny.
So perhaps that's the better answer to the question, "No, I don't mind; so long as they bring a fourth."
Enjoy!
