I am friends with 2 other couples. Couple A introduced us to couple B. At the point of introduction, we had been friends with couple A for a while, doing things together as a four etc. Sometimes we do things all 6 together. However, the dynamic shifts a bit which couple A also feels. Couple A and B often do things together, we are sometimes invited, sometimes not - I don’t mind either way.
Couple A don’t always like for couple B to come along when it is with us there too. This has turned into a strange dynamic - that is we plan to do stuff with couple A, they begin to panic about couple B - how do we tell them, will we tell them this lie, will we omit saying anything etc etc. We have a holiday booked this summer and another night away later in the year with Couple A, they are starting to panic about excuses to tell couple B and we have said time and time again we do not want to lie and don’t really understand what the issue is. It feels like every time we go to plan something, the faffing and fussing comes up and to be honest I am sick of it! I am friendly with couple B, so obviously would not want to upset them. But I also don't understand this dynamic and how to approach it? Is it just a ground rule that every couple needs to be invited? I feel like I am just going be frustrated each time with the constant panicking from couple A Any advice on how to manage this? Thanks