By the way you tell your story.. seems like somethings missing... Maybe the part where you say...."... i walkd up to those sets, smiling, looking pretty confident, all peacocked, with my body language at its best...."... oh but maybe that wasnt the case.
Seems that 3 times you gathered up the courage and managed to beat the AA you failed, maybe not because of the opener..
Id like you to remember those sets, and ask yourself these questions:
Was I conveying being a pre-selected man?
Was my body language the right one?
Was my body posture good in relation to the set?
Was I dressing peacocky clothes, or at least, fashionable ones?
Was I smiling?
Did I have a bit of social proof?
Did I elaborate on my openers?
Maybe said them too fast, too slow, too short, the right words..
Sometimes, Id use more elaborate openers to catch their attention...
Example.. your first opener was.. "Flower, First Date? Good or bad?"
I may have said instead..."...check this out, ive got this friend who went on his first date with a russian girl, he had the date prepared, and he even got her flowers... but check this out, the moment she arrived, she saw those flowers on his hand, she turned red, like really angry-redish and she knocked the flowers off his hand... and said something in russian, dunno what it was... well thing is my friend "xxx-name" is going again on a first date with this cute girl from FLorida, and hes wondering if he should get her flowers, just because she said she liked them.. so what do you think guys,,... are flowers on a first date, good or bad??....
Sounds, crazy... sounds stupid.. but also.. kinda funny... makes them think a bit more.. you already gave them a story, in which you take the role of the good friend, a caring person, but youre just asking them for their opinion.
Now.. think about a compelling story youve been told, and how u reacted.
Try answering those questions for yourself, then also think of expanding a bit on your openers.
.. hope this helps
take care.. game on !