Refering to the act of doing everything with a partner related to sex (foreplay, oral, etc.) up to and stopping short of penile insertion.
Alluding to the colloquial phrase "The whole nine yards", but stopping about 3.5 inches short of going all the way.
Blake: "Man, Lucy and I went the whole 8.9 yards last night"
Jason: "Dang dude, what stopped you?"