TL;DR: Trying something new with asking girls out. Some reply positively, but others misunderstand and mention other friends.

I have finally gotten around to the idea of being more assertive when asking a girl out on a date. Instead of 'Are you free for drinks on wednesday?' or 'I would love to catch dinner with you on Thursday', I am now using phrases like 'I'm drinking on Wednesday. Come.' and 'Let's grab dinner' for example.

Problem is, however, some girls might suggest bringing friends. There was one particular case where a girl, last minute said 'a friend from mine is on a budget, are there any deals?'

Either the person in question misunderstood me, this is some kind of 'shit test', or fully understands but is doing this anyway.

Conventional wisdom states that explicitly mentioning that it's a date is bad. It freaks the other party out and puts a ton of pressure on, while suggesting a meet up eases things a bit.

However, I seem that I am not making it through that I want a 1-on-1 face to face meet up, not a group hangout where I will not have the girl's undivided attention.

Thoughts?